Unto the Shores of Acheron
by LAXgirl
Summary: Everyone thought Edward was dead. But when someone tries to resurrect him, no one's prepared to deal with the soulless look alike that's created instead, or its hurt and anger when his original half unexpectedly returns from the other side of the Gate
1. Those Whom We Forget

This story came to me on a whim. I apologize now for its length, but it couldn't be helped. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist and all related characters are not mine, nor are they being used for profit in the telling of this story.

**Chapter One: Those Whom We Forget**

"35 liters water…'

"7.08 liters carbon…'

"645 milliliters calcium…'

"780 grams phosphorous…'

"140 grams potassium…'

"140 grams sulfur…'

"100 grams sodium…'

"95 grams chlorine…'

"Magnesium, iron, fluorine, ammonium, iodine, silicon, zinc… I hope I don't forget anything…'

"There. Done. Don't worry, dear. It won't be much longer. We're almost ready to bring him back. And when we do we'll make him fix you.'

"There, there, now… No need to worry. We just need one more ingredient. It won't do to bring him back without any memories. Sh, sh, dear… Don't worry. We just need to find Alphonse. He's the only missing thing now.'

"Just a little longer until we find Alphonse Elric, and then everything will be alright…"

* * *

Colonel Roy Mustang listlessly stared at the stack of papers sitting on the corner of his desk with his one good eye. It never seemed to end. Despite Amestris being turned over to parliament rule more than three years ago, the flood of bureaucratic paperwork seemed to follow him no matter who was running the country. 

Roy gave a heavy sigh as he shuffled through page after page of trivial inventories, ledgers, and reports. The words held absolutely no meaning to him as his eye sluggishly moved back and forth across the page. It wasn't until he realized he'd just read the same line about a toilet paper shortage on the Northern front seven times that Mustang finally gave a disgusted sigh and sent the paper he'd been reading flying back onto the desk with a flick of the wrist.

_Where did everything go so wrong?_ he wondered as he wearily massaged the pinch of skin between his eyes. Three years ago everything had seemed so certain and assured. Back then it had almost been assumed he would eventually rise to Fuhrer and, under his rule, finally bring peace to Amestris - thus realizing his ultimate goal.

But before that could happen, everything had gone so horribly wrong.

His best friend, Maes, had been murdered. The Fuhrer had been exposed as a Homunculus. A government conspiracy had been discovered. And the military was found to be nothing more than the puppet entity of a group of soulless beings hell-bent on bringing death and destruction onto all human kind in their never ending quest to create the Philosopher's Stone.

Roy remembered his last encounter with the All-Seeing Homunculus, King Bradley, all too well... He occasionally still had nightmares about it. He probably would have died that night if it hadn't been for the unwitting intervention of the Fuhrer's son.

He'd managed to survive and defeat the one-eyed Homunculus, but only to find his world completely torn apart the next day.

With the mysterious "disappearance" of King Bradley, it was decided there was no longer any need for a Fuhrer or military-run government. In the course of only several hours, with himself as one of it's major factors, Mustang had found the position he'd spent so many years toiling to obtain suddenly gone.

But possibly even more devastatingly of a loss than the title of Fuhrer in the course of that single hellish night was the apparent death of the foul-mouthed, height-challenged, child prodigy, Edward Elric.

Even now almost three years after his disappearance Roy still felt a sharp pang of loss somewhere deep inside his chest for the missing alchemist.

The boy had been a handful - a true challenge at times! - but somehow over the course of their acquaintance he'd come to take a shine to him. Maybe it was because Ed had reminded him so much of himself at that age; or maybe it was because the boy had been the only one to ever talk back to him like he couldn't care less whether he was a military colonel or Fuhrer of all of Amestris. Whatever the case, Roy had found himself taking more and more of a personal interest in the Elric brothers as the years wore on.

Except there no longer was any Elric _brothers_. There was only the youngest one - Alphonse - left. For all anyone knew, Edward had disappeared into a cloud of smoke the night he gave himself in exchange for his brother's body. No one had seen or heard anything from him since. It was like he'd just disappeared off the face of the earth.

Roy solemnly stared at the scattered sheaves of paper littering his desk. He missed the foul-mouthed prodigy. He was man enough to admit it (even if it was only to himself in the privacy of his own office). Fullmetal had always had a way of making work more interesting. From his height-related tirades to the way he'd stomp around the office whenever he had to give a report, he'd always given Roy a reason to look forward to their meetings.

But now he was gone - probably dead. And because of him…

He knew he was being irrational - that nothing he did was directly responsible for the boy's disappearance. But still, somewhere deep inside, he wondered if there wasn't something else he could have done to save the teenage prodigy. Even now - over three years after Ed's disappearance - he still lay awake at night sometimes wondering what he else could have done…

A sudden knock at his door startled the colonel out of his thoughts.

"Yes," he called.

The door opened to reveal Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. "A message just came for you from the front reception desk, colonel," she said, forgoing any pleasantries. "There's someone there that wants to see you."

"Who is it?" Roy said.

"The front desk didn't say. But whoever it is isn't military; they won't let them up without your consent."

"Alright," Roy sighed, getting up. "I'll go see who it is. I need to stretch my legs anyway."

Hawkeye glanced at the stack of papers covering the colonel's desk. "Your paperwork still needs to be done by the end of the day, Sir," she said. "You've fallen behind the last few day. I'd hate to have to remind you to do it again…"

Mustang involuntarily flinched at the unspoken threat. The female sharpshooter had on more than one occasion been known to draw her weapon on anyone she caught slacking off - himself included. He'd been startled out of enough afternoon naps to find himself staring down the barrel of a polished forty-five to know that Hawkeye never made an idle threat.

"I'll be sure to get right on it, Lieutenant," he said, and moved quickly for the door. Although Riza was a dedicated soldier and loyal friend (perhaps something even more someday…), there was no denying the woman could be down right scary at times. Even Mustang, commanding officer and revered Flame Alchemist, knew when to obediently click his heels together and shout, "Yes, Ma'am!" than risk incurring the wrath of the female sharpshooter.

Roy gave his men a customary nod as he strode out his private office and through the door. Falman, Breda, Fuery, and Havoc all looked up and saluted him as he passed. Despite losing all hope of ever becoming Fuhrer, Roy took solace in the fact he still had his loyal subordinates and friends. They made his suddenly meaningless career a little bit more bearable.

If only that group of loyal subordinates wasn't missing its youngest members, Roy thought with a heart-sinking pang of guilt - namely the temperamental Fullmetal Alchemist…

Roy forced himself to ignore that last thought. It did no good agonizing over the past, even though three years after the fact that was exactly what he was still doing.

He quickly navigated his way through Central Headquarters. He was curious to see who wanted to see him but wasn't military personnel to automatically be given clearance to go to his office.

As he turned down the last hallway and came within view of the reception desk, Roy finally caught sight of his mysterious visitor - and felt the air leave his lungs like he'd just been hit by major Armstrong in the gut. His footsteps faltered to a halt.

_No. It can't be…_ Roy thought, staring in disbelief.

The person's back was to Roy, his face hidden from view, but there was no way to hide his visitor's youth. It was a boy, no older than his early teens. Long blonde hair - tied back in a ponytail by a piece of cloth - hung down the boy's back. He was wearing a long red coat, embossed with the design of a winged serpent wrapped around an arrow-pointed cross. It was like the ghost of some long-forgotten memory suddenly come to life.

_No_… Roy thought, a wild, almost painful hope rising inside his chest as his feet unconsciously began moving towards the frighteningly familiar figure again. _There's no way it can be him… He's dead. No one's seen him in over three years. There's no way it can possibly be him…_

But what if there was?

Mustang's pace quickened, almost breaking into a jog. Could it be? Could it really be him? Could it really be-

"Fullmetal?"

The name burst from his lips almost involuntarily. He could hear the jumbled mix of desperation, hope, and fear thickening in his own voice. But he didn't care.

The person looked up, finally turning to face him - and Roy felt the tentative seed of hope he'd begun to nurture shatter like a piece of glass somewhere deep inside his chest.

"Um… Colonel Mustang?" the boy said, nervously greeting said colonel. "My name's Alphonse Elric. I believe you used to know my brother. I was wondering if I could talk to you about him for awhile. I promise I won't take up much of your time."

Roy stared at the boy, a devastating sense of loss washing over him.

This wasn't Fullmetal, he realized with a sickening crash of reality. It was Alphonse Elric… Edward's younger brother. That would explain the unsettling similarities between this boy and the ghost of his painful memories.

No longer blinded by irrational, delirious hope, Roy was finally able to see the boy before him for who he really was. Despite their initial similarities, Roy now saw several striking differences between Al and the one he'd wanted him to be.

For one thing, although blonde, Al did not have the same color hair as his older counterpart. While Ed's hair had always reminded Roy of sun-bleached straw, Al's was more a dishwater blonde. His eyes were also greyish blue, not gold like the ones that used to stare back at him in defiant challenge. This boy's face was rounder, more full of innocence; while at this age Ed had already taken on the visage of someone who'd experienced loss and come to understand the crueler ways of the world. Al's stance was also different from Fullmetal's: more unassuming and demure - just like how Roy always imagined he'd carry himself when he'd been an empty suit of armor. Ed had always stormed around like a loaded gun - lethal and in danger of going off at any moment.

It was disconcerting and unexplainably heartbreaking, Roy realized, to be faced with this familiar yet alien presence. It was as if some vindictive higher power had decided to punish him for his failure to protect the foul-mouthed alchemist and sent this disturbing look-alike to taunt him.

"Sir?" Al's voice suddenly startled Mustang back to the present. The boy was looking distinctly uncomfortable. "You are Colonel Mustang, aren't you?"

The Flame Alchemist suddenly realized he was staring. "Of course it is, Al. Don't you remember me?"

The boy sheepishly looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry, Sir, but I don't. I can't seem to remember anything that happened after Brother and I tried to bring our mother back, or what happened while my soul was sealed in that suit of armor."

Roy stared at the boy, feeling as if the floor had suddenly disappeared out from under him. "You don't remember _anything_?" he said, stunned.

Al miserably shook his head.

"We were hoping you might be able to help jog some of his memories."

Roy's head shot up in surprise, only now realizing there were others there besides Ed's brother. The first one to arrest Roy's attention was the towering figure of a black-bearded man. Roy suddenly realized why the front desk officer hadn't given them clearance into Headquarters - the man looked like he could take on major Armstrong in a body-building contest and possibly win. The second was a woman; dark-haired, beautiful, and tall. She had a tattoo of the same symbol the Elric brothers' wore on their coats tattooed over her heart. It took a moment for Roy's startled mind to finally process that it'd been this woman that had spoke.

"I'm sorry, do I know-?"

"I'm sorry, colonel," Al intercepted. "This is Brother's and my first alchemy teacher."

The woman gave Mustang a curt nod, a faint scowl etched across her face. "Izumi Curtis. This is my husband, Sig."

The man behind her grunted in response, as if that was the closest he ever came to actually saying hello.

Roy weakly nodded. This was Ed and Al's first alchemy teacher? He didn't know why, but there was something about this woman that instantly made him wary - like when he hadn't finished a report and knew Hawkeye was waiting on the other side of the door with a loaded pistol…

"You want me to help jog his memory?" Roy slowly repeated, eyeing the young boy hesitantly. "I'm not sure what I can really do to help…"

"We're not asking much," Izumi said, her expression grim. "Just that you talk to him for awhile. You were his brother's commanding officer. Besides Al, you probably saw more of Ed during the four years he spent in the military than anyone else."

Roy stared at the young boy, uncomfortably aware of the hopeful, pleading look in Al's eyes - as if he was his last hope of ever recapturing some part of his missing brother.

Mustang gave a weary sigh. How could he say no? Al may not remember him or even know what kind of role Roy had played in his older brother's disappearance, but he felt he owed it the boy to talk about Ed. After all, it was the least he could do to try and make up in some small way not being able to be there to save the older Elric brother's life.

"Let's go to my office," he murmured, turning and motioning Al to follow him. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions…"

* * *

Al uncomfortably sat back in one of the chairs facing colonel Mustang's desk. Stacks of papers littered the man's desk, it's surface barely even visible under all the clutter. Al wondered how the man got any work done there. 

"Would you like anything to drink?" Mustang asked as he took a seat behind the desk. "I can have one of my subordinates get you something."

"No thank you, Sir, I'm fine," Al replied. He honestly had no desire to see any more of his brother's old comrades. 'Uncomfortable' would have been a mild word to describe how he'd felt when he'd first walked through the doors into the colonel's office. It was like the moment the other five soldiers caught sight of him they'd literally froze. He could still feel their eyes boring into him, filled with shock as if they'd just seen a ghost. It wasn't until the colonel finally noticed his men's expressions and properly introduced him as Alphonse Elric that their startled expression began to fade. But even then they'd continued to stare. It'd almost made him wish Izumi hadn't decided to wait downstairs. (She never had liked the military very much…)

Al knew what they must have been thinking before Mustang told them his true identity. He'd seen the flash of disappointment go through their eyes when he'd explained he was Alphonse Elric and not his missing brother. He'd seen the same look on the colonel when he'd run up to him in the hall. Did he really look that much like his older brother?

He'd then answered the onslaught of questions that had inevitably followed; although that wasn't saying much considering his four year memory gap. He was doing fine; no, he didn't remember who any of them were; yes, he'd begun studying alchemy again; and (possibly the most painful of all), no, he had no idea what happened to his brother that night three years ago; that was why he was there…

The colonel was pretending to tidy the chaotic mess of papers on his desk, but Al knew what he was really doing. He was staling.

"So you knew my brother…" he tentatively began, trying to ease into the conversation he knew was going to be as uncomfortable for the colonel as it was going to be for him. Just how did one go about asking what was basically a total stranger to tell him about his older brother, or ask him to help fill him in on the last four years of his life which he'd somehow forgotten? "What can you tell me about him, Sir? Everyone I talk to seems to have their own impression of him."

"What exactly do you want know?" the colonel replied, finally giving up on the mess of paper and leaning back in his chair. "There's quite a lot I can say about Fullmetal."

Al became quiet, his eyes drifting to floor. "Anything…" he murmured, as if ashamed to meet the colonel's gaze. "I can't remember anything about Brother or what happened after I lost my body. It's like he's been erased from my memory. I don't know where we went, what we did, or what kind of person my brother was those four years. Everything I do remember about him feels like it's getting old - like my memories are somehow getting fuzzy around the edges. I'm not sure I even remember what Brother really looked like. I've seen pictures and heard other people's stories of him, but I don't remember anything about him myself. That's why I'm trying to get my own memory back. I don't want to forget my brother…"

Al felt tears prickle the corners of his eyes, but he forced himself to blink them back. He wasn't going to cry in front of the colonel. Not when he wanted and _needed _to learn so much from the other man. Mustang was one of his last hopes of ever learning about his brother's past.

The colonel didn't immediately answer. He stared at Al with a distant look in his eyes, as if actually looking at something far away that existed only in the farthest reaches of his mind.

Then, as if coming back to himself, Mustang finally spoke. "Edward was, for lack of a better term, a foul-mouthed brat," he said, his voice crisp and flat. But then, his expression softening into one of fond remembrance, "but he was one of the best alchemists and human beings I think I've ever met…"

Al relaxed into his chair, the colonel's word coming faster as he recalled the first day Ed had come into his office to pick up his first assignment and State Alchemist silver watch.

Al felt no memories surface back into being as the colonel continued his account of the famous Fullmetal Alchemist. But somewhere in the back of his mind, he saw the image of his older brother he'd begun to piece together from the stories and pictures of other people become a little bit clearer - like he was somehow closer to one day having his brother back. Even if it was only in his mind…

* * *

It was several hours later before Al finally walked out the doors of Central Headquarters. It now near the middle of the afternoon. A cool breeze whistled across the empty parade grounds as Al walked into the open and lifted his face to the wind, letting the breeze caress his weary face. He hadn't expected his meeting with colonel Mustang to go so long. 

The smell of rain hung heavy in the air, the sky ominous and grey. Although it'd been overcast all day, storm clouds were now brewing overhead, as if Heaven itself was in turmoil and getting ready to unleash its fury. Central, it looked like, was in for a major thunderstorm…

Taking a deep breath of the wet, lightening-laced air Al slowly started down the front steps.

"Well? How'd it go?" a voice called out to him as he reached the bottom.

Izumi was there, her husband standing behind her like a looming titan.

Al gave her a wan smile that didn't quite meet his eyes. "Fine. Colonel Mustang was very helpful and nice to me. But I still don't remember anything…"

Izumi's stern features softened, her heart aching at the sight of her student's disappointed face. "It's going to take time, Al," she said, gently leading him away from the military building by the shoulder. "Your memories aren't justgoing to come back all at once, you know."

"But it's been three years," Al murmured, looking frustrated and vaguely frightened. "What if they never come back? What if I never remember Brother or what happened those four years Brother and I spent looking for the Philosopher's Stone?"

Izumi could only shake her head. "I don't know, Al," she replied. "We can only hope for the best." Sig, as usual, said nothing.

The three silently left the grounds of Central Headquarters and entered the main part of the city. The streets were empty, most of Central's populace already beginning to move indoors in preparation of the coming storm. The three moved slowly, even though there was no one there to hinder their movement. Al felt sluggish - weighed down as if his meeting with his brother's old commander was some kind of physical weight on his shoulders.

_Another useless stroll down memory lane_… he sullenly noted. Or at least it would have been if he had any memories to stroll down… He wondered just how many people he'd interviewed about his brother like this now. Dozens, at least. Sometimes when he talked to people, instead of trying to jog his amnesic mind or remember forgotten memories, he felt like he was actually trying to make his own memories out of the ones of others - like making some kind of patchy collage.

It was kind of pathetic, really. He couldn't have his own memories so he had to leech off the ones of others… He wondered what his brother would have thought if he knew what he was doing. _Probably would have slapped me upside the head_, Al thought with a grimace. He _did_ remember his brother's tendency to take his disappointment out like that on others...

Al sighed. Well, he couldn't really say his meeting with Mustang had been useless. The colonel had had some interesting stories about his brother no one else had ever told him. The one about Ed choosing to fight the colonel in a mock combat simulation for his certification review had been rather amusing…

But even then, all the stories he was ever told always boiled back down to just that: stories. The accounts he heard held no tangible meaning to him, because he didn't actually remember being there himself. He couldn't remember the way a place had looked or felt. He couldn't remember how his brother had looked or sounded. Oh, he could _imagine _all those things, but that wasn't the same as actually _remembering_. For all he knew, the stories people told him could have been taken from a book and retold to him as reality. How was he to know? He had nothing to compare them with.

Al's thoughts wandered off, lost in a sea of bitterness and disappointment. Walking in silence, he, Izumi, and their silent counterpart turned down a narrow side street that would lead them back to the hotel they'd taken up rooms in for the night. It, like the rest of the city, was silent and still.

The streets were now all but deserted. No one else seemed to be out except for the occasional pedestrian hurrying home to beat the rain. A few raindrops had already begun to fall, like scouts before the onslaught of a major attack. The faint echo of thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance. The air seemed thick, as if the world itself was holding its breath in anticipation of the coming storm.

But Al hardly seemed to notice; he was too preoccupied with his own thoughts. He probably would have continued brooding, but just as he and his companions came to the middle of the quiet side street a raspy voice suddenly called out to him, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Alphonse Elric… At last… I was starting to worry I'd never find you…"

Al and his companions froze, looking around the empty street for the voice's owner. As they watched, a tall figure emerged from shadows of a tiny alleyway. The figure was dressed in a long trench coat with a wide-brimmed fedora pulled down over its face. It moved towards them slowly, lumbering in a half-hunched position. But even then it stood over six feet tall. Al felt Izumi tense beside him, unconsciously sinking into a wary fighting stance.

"My, Alphonse, don't you look well…" it said, its raspy voice grating his ears. "You remind me so much of your brother in this body. If only he were here to see it…"

Al involuntarily gasped, and stared at the mysterious stranger. "You knew my brother?"

"Of course I did… That's why I want to bring him back. He's the only one that can help me. But to bring him back I need your help…"

"Bring him back?" Al said, staring at the mysterious figure incredulously. "How? He's dead."

"No… Not if you help me. We can bring him back… But you must come with me…"

"Enough!" Izumi yelled, stepping in between her student and the mysterious man. "Alphonse is going nowhere with you. Who are you anyway that you knew Edward?"

The mysterious man however did not answer. Like an angry predator, the man lunged at them, his arms outstretched towards Al. "The boy is coming with me!" it rasped. "I need his help!"

"I said _no_," Izumi hissed, and with no more warning delivered a brutal sidekick to the man's head.

The man staggered backward from the dark-haired alchemy teacher, holding his head. Al was amazed he didn't fall. He hadn't met many people that could take one of his sensei's blow to the head like that and not be knocked unconscious for a week. The mysterious man began to straighten, his fedora slipping off his head and falling to the ground. Both Al and Izumi gasped, staring in horror at the sight they beheld.

A man's face stared back at them, but upside-down. Large furry ears framed the thing's misshapen head. Fur covered the rest of what they could see of its abnormal body. It was then that Al noticed the thing's furry hands - like they were actually those of some kind of animal…

"A chimera?" Izumi exclaimed, staring at the monstrous thing in surprise.

Al felt something tickle the back of his mind, like an itch he couldn't reach. There was something oddly familiar about this thing. But where would he have ever met a chimera before?

"Heh heh…" the chimera chuckled in its raspy voice, rubbing its bruised jaw with one massive paw. "It's going to take more than that to stop me... I need that boy to help me bring his brother back…"

Al stared at the chimera. Why did he feel like he should know who this person was? His voice was unsettling familiar… As if he'd heard it once before…

"Tucker! Shou Tucker!" Al suddenly gasped, startled as the name flew from his lips. He had no idea where that name had come from, or how he'd known it. But somehow he knew that was this person's name - a name that unexplainably conjured up feelings of revulsion and disgust in his heart.

The chimera smiled at him with an unsettling up-side grin. "Very good, Alphonse…" it rasped. "Maybe you will be able to help me after all…"

"He's not going anywhere with you," Izumi said, once again stepping in between Tucker and her student. Her voice was low and dangerous, her stance aggressive. Al couldn't help but think of a mother bear warning another predator to stay away from her cub.

"Forgive me," the chimera rasped, "but the boy _is_ coming with me…" Then launching himself at Izumi, the chimera spun and caught the alchemy teacher in the chest with his tail which Al - and unfortunately Izumi - had not noticed until then.

The female alchemist was sent flying into a nearby wall. Her body hit the unforgiving stone with a sickening crunch and limply slid to the ground.

"Sensei!" Al yelled. Clapping his hands together, he activated the two alchemy arrays on the palms of his gloves and slammed them onto the ground. Spikes of transmuted concrete shot up out of the ground, almost impaling the lumbering chimera. But Tucker was faster, his hunched animal body more agile than anyone would have thought.

Leaping to one side, Tucker dodged the deadly projectiles and lunged at Al. The boy evaded his grasp, but just as he tried to do another transmutation, the chimera once again whipped around and lashed out with his tail. Al took the hit hard, brutally knocked to the ground. Gasping for air, Al lay in a heap, dark spots blurring his vision.

"Why are you fighting me like this, Alphonse?" he heard the chimera, Tucker, say, coming to stand over him.

But before Al could answer or try to push himself to his feet, another figure suddenly lunged at the chimera. His arm pulled back like a huge battering ram, Sig caught the chimera by surprise and slammed him to the ground. Tucker took the hit, but rolled and came back up on his feet.

Pushing himself up onto his knees, Al tried to make his head stop spinning. Izumi, he saw, was also pushing herself up, holding her left side. Clapping her hands together, she pressed them to the wall. A section of the building - like a giant battering ram - shot out and slammed into Tucker. The chimera staggered and fell to one knee.

Unfortunately, the transmutation seemed too much for the injured alchemist because with a violent cough, a gush of blood erupted from Izumi's mouth, staining the front of her shirt. Her knees gave out from under again and she weakly sagged against the wall back to the ground.

"Izumi," Sig said and rushed to his wife's side. With more gentleness than anyone would have thought someone his size capable of, the man cradled her bloody form to him.

"No… protect Al…" she rasped, coughing on another mouthful of blood. "Don't let him get Al…"

But it was too late.

Getting back to his feet, the chimera made another lunge for the boy. Al tried to do another transmutation as he scrambled away, but before he could, Tucker spun and caught the young alchemist in the back of the neck with his tail. Al's eyes went wide for a moment, his whole body going stiff. Then with almost lethargic slowness he sagged to the ground, his eyes fluttering shut.

Tucker gently lifted the unconscious boy into arms. "Soon, Alphonse, soon…" he chuckled, cradling the alchemist to his chest like a baby. "Soon we'll have him back…" Then turning on his heels, the chimera took off, his lumbering footsteps echoing through the empty streets as he disappeared into the misty curtains of rain that'd begun to fall.

Izumi and Sig stared after them, helpless to do anything to stop him.

"No," Izumi yelled after them, shaking her head angrily. "No!" Why could she never protect her children? Why did someone always try to take her children away from her? First her baby, then Ed, now Al…

Using her husband's body for support, the alchemist shakily pushed herself to her feet.

"Izumi." She could hear the concern in her husband's voice as she weakly staggered away from him.

"We have to go back, dear," she said, wiping the last bit of blood from her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Back where?" her husband's voice rumbled through the rain-laced air.

"We're going to need help getting Al back," Izumi replied, turning back to face him with fire in her eyes, "and unfortunately, I think we're going to need the military's help. I have a feeling I know what that chimera's planning to do…"

Then turning back the way they'd just come, Izumi and her husband took off in the direction of Central Headquarters, desperate to warn her student's ex-commander of Alphonse's abduction and the horrible deed they feared was about to be committed.

Meanwhile, overhead, the floodgates of heaven seemed to open up and unleash its misery on the city below. In the distance, a low roll of thunder sounded, echoing across the land like a ominous warning of what was to come.

* * *

Consciousness returned slowly to Alphonse Elric. The first thing he became aware of as the sea of darkness began to release its hold on him was the throbbing pain in his head. The next, more gradual realization was that he was sitting on the ground, propped up against something hard - and that his feet and hands were tied. 

Memories of what happened right before everything had suddenly gone black came back to him in a flood of mental images. His meeting with colonel Mustang. Him and Izumi walking back from Headquarters. A strange man appearing - a chimera. Fighting. And then-

Al's eyes flew open, the boy snapping back to full awareness. He immediately regretted it because the throbbing pain in his head instantly became like a metal spike through the brain. Al groaned as he clenched his eyes shut and waited for the pain to return to a tolerable agony.

Finally feeling like he could open his eyes again without risk of losing the contents of his stomach, the young alchemist took stock of his surroundings.

It was dark. The only source of light was from several huge, tank-like containers sitting at different intervals around the room. They looked like they were filled with water, and glowed a dark eerie red. In the dark shadows of the room, Al could make out the faint outlines of tables and equipment: microscopes, books, glass containers, and other ominous looking instruments.

It was then Al suddenly realized he must be in some kind of laboratory. But it looked like it had been abandoned at some point and only recently recommissioned. Cracks ran across the walls, plaster peeling in huge chucks in some places. Dust covered the floor, and one corner of the ceiling to Al's left looked like it was in danger of collapsing at any moment.

Looking around the dilapidated laboratory, Al caught sight of a series of lines painted on the ground in the middle of the room. They circled and crisscrossed each other, forming a complex design. Al felt a jolt go through him at the sudden realization of what they were. They were the lines of a giant alchemy array…

In the middle of the array sat a large metal tub filled with water and a pile of different colored powders.

"Ah… I see you're finally awake," a raspy voice drifted out of the shadows.

Al's head snapped towards it. As expected, the lumbering figure of the ex-State Alchemist-turned-chimera Shou Tucker stepped into the faint glow of light. He was no longer wearing his trench coat and Al was finally able to see his entire body. It made a cold shiver run down Al's spine. He looked like a man fused backwards to the back of a giant bear or sloth.

"I must apologize for the way I brought you here," Tucker said, moving towards the bound alchemist, "but I fear I am in a bit of a rush… My Nina can't wait any longer…"

Al stared in horror at the sight he beheld as the chimera came into the light. In the man-beast's arms he cradled what looked like a little girl no older than four or five years old. Long brown hair the color of cinnamon spilled down the girl's shoulders and over the chimera's arms. It shrouded her body like a blanket, long and luxurious. But then Al caught sight of the rest of her body, and felt the threat of nausea rise up in his throat.

The girl's body was covered with patches of green, discolored skin. Open wounds spotted her flesh and suppurated dark, blackish goo like the innards of a tomato left out in the sun for too long. The smell of rot and decay filled Al's nose, making him gag. He had to choke back the urge not to retch.

But even worse than the smell (if that was even possible) were the girls eyes… Oh god her eyes… Like the eyes of a dead fish, two milky blue orbs stared back at Al - empty and devoid of all human life.

"My poor Nina…" Tucker murmured as he tenderly stroked the corpse's hair. "Nothing I do will help… She's become so sick…"

Al couldn't take the sight anymore. "What do you want with me!" he screamed, struggling against the cords binding his wrists and ankles. "Why'd you bring me here?"

Tucker turned away and gently laid the rotting girl down, as if she was some kind of precious treasure.

Turning back to Al he said, "My Nina is sick… Nothing I do can make her well. Everyday she gets a little bit worse…"

"That's because she's dead!" Al yelled, his voice echoing through the empty laboratory like a gunshot. "Can't you see that?"

Tucker flinched, but calmly went on. "I know my Nina died. That's why I brought her back. You even helped me bring her back by letting me use the Philosopher's Stone…"

Al stared at the chimera, confused and unsure. Had he? Had he helped this man bring his daughter back? But then why did the girl look like this? Nothing made sense. Now more than ever Al wished he had his memory back.

"My Nina was perfect…" Tucker went on. "The Philosopher's Stone brought her back as beautiful as I remembered. But then a few months ago she became sick…"

The hulking chimera slowly moved towards the alchemy array in the middle of the room. "That's why I need your help to bring Edward back," he explained. "I need him to remake the Philosopher's Stone… Then I can restore my Nina. But I need Edward… He is the only one that knows how to make the Philosopher's Stone…"

"Why do you need me?" Al demanded. "What do I have to do with any of this?"

Tucker turned back to Al, his upside-down face bathed in shadows from the glowing water tanks. "I am going to resurrect Edward," he said, a wild look entering his eyes. "I have researched everything that I could about human transmutations and done all the necessary calculations. All I need now is the final ingredient…"

Slowly moving back towards Al, he stood over the bound alchemist. "Many of the texts I read concerning human transmutation differ in their theories of how it can be achieved," he explained. "But since human transmutation is illegal, none of the authors have actually done it. All they have are theories. But several of them agree on one things: that something must be added to the basic elements of the transmutation to compensate for the memories of the one being resurrected. If you wanted to resurrect someone with no memories, then there's no problems. But since it is imperative I bring Edward back with his memories of how to create the Philosopher's Stone, you must now see why I need your help…'

"The different books do not explain what should be given in exchange for the person's memories, but there was some speculation that something added from a living relative or close acquaintance of that person would help infuse their old memories to the new body…and that is why I brought you here… I need you to help me bring Edward and his memories back…"

Al stared at the chimera in horror. "It doesn't work like that!" he exclaimed. "What you're trying to do is madness! My brother and I tried to bring our mother back like that, and it didn't work!"

"Not the way I heard it," Tucker replied. "I believe you both donated a drop of blood to the composition elements of your mother's body and resurrected her with some, if not all, of her memories."

"But what about Equivalent Exchange?" Al demanded, desperately trying to talk some sense into the deranged man. He might not remember what happened after that night, but he did remember the terrible consequences of what he and his brother had tried to do. "Brother and I both lost all or part of our bodies in the transmutation! What are you going to give in exchange? It's too dangerous!"

Tucker however just grinned. "I have already taken that into account." He pointed at the tanks of blood red water lining the room. "I have heard about your unfortunate amnesia, so you probably won't remember what this is. It's called Red Water. Though not nearly as powerful as the real thing, it is an incomplete varient of the Philosopher's Stone. I will use it to bring Edward back."

"If it's so powerful, why don't you use that to bring your daughter back with?" Al yelled, glaring at the man. "Why do you need Brother? Why do you need to bring him back just so he can turn around and bring _her_ back? It doesn't make any sense!"

Tucker turned and lumbered towards a nearby table where he picked up a knife. "Because I want my real daughter back," he said, his voice solemn and low. "I want my Nina back heart, body and soul; not just an empty doll… and only a real Philosopher's Stone can do that… It doesn't matter how Edward comes back. Just as long as he remembers how to make a Philosopher's Stone…"

Al suddenly realized with a terrifying certainty this man holding him captive was completely and utterly insane.

Tucker came back towards him with the knife and a tiny glass vial. Al struggled against his restraints and tried to squirm away from the deranged chimera, but was helpless to escape as the man easily pulled him back and held him to the floor. Al felt the sharp pain of the knife slice across his right thumb, and then the sticky warmth of blood flow down the side of his hand. He lay there motionless as Tucker finally stood and moved back towards the alchemy circle in the middle of the room, the glass vial now filled with dark red blood.

"You don't know what you're doing…" Al hissed as Tucker poured the vial of blood on the pile of elemental powders. "You have _no_ idea what you're about to do…"

"You should be thanking me, Alphonse," Tucker replied, not looking back at the bound boy as he knelt on the edge of the array and held his hands out over it. "I'm about to bring your dear brother back to you…"

Al looked away, unable to watch. Yes, he wanted his brother back. But not like this…

Tucker's hands hovered over the edge of the complex alchemy array. He began to bring them down to start the transmutation, to activate the forbidden exchange-

But just then the door to the room suddenly burst inward and a group of uniformed people appeared.

"Shou Tucker! Step away from the array, and put your hands in the air where I can see them!" a voice bellowed at the kneeling chimera.

Al's head shot up, hope flooding his entire body. He knew that voice. He recognized it from that very morning…

Standing in the broken doorway stood the impressive figure of colonel Roy Mustang. The colonel's one eye quickly took in the scene before finally coming to rest on Tucker in the middle of the room. For a moment, Al thought he actually saw fire flash through the colonel's eye. Behind Mustang stood half a dozen other soldiers, several of whom Al recognized from the colonel's office. One of them - a blonde woman with dark red eyes - had her pistol drawn and aimed past the colonel into the room. Behind them stood two other figures; two who Al knew very well...

"Sensei!" he yelled, once again struggling against his bonds. "You have to stop him! He's going to do a human transmutation! He's going to try and bring back Brother!"

He saw Izumi's face pale, her stern features betraying the undeniable look of fear. Beside her, even Sig looked uneasy.

Colonel Mustang stepped into the room, his hands clenched into fists. "Move away from the array, Tucker!" he yelled, his tone promising a painful demise if he was not immediately obeyed.

An angry growl sounded somewhere in the back of the chimera's throat. "I haven't come so far as to give up now…" he hissed. "I need him to bring my Nina back…" Then with no more warning, Tucker slammed his palms on the outer circle of the complex alchemy array.

Brilliant white light exploded into the air.

"_NO_!" Al thought he heard the colonel shout from the other side of the room, but his voice was lost in the crackling charge of energy. Al heard the sound of shattering glass somewhere nearby.

Al didn't know how long the transmutation lasted. It could have been seconds, or hours, or days. All he was aware of was the overwhelming tide of energy washing over him, and the feel of the very air itself being ripped apart around him. He felt like he'd just been caught in the middle of some terrible storm. It took all his strength just to lay there and ride out the horrible winds that grabbed and tore at his helpless body.

Finally, the blinding white light began to recede, leaving an empty void of darkness in its wake.

Al lay there motionless, his eyes tightly shut against the spots burned into his retinas. It was only when he felt someone hurry to his side and sever the cords binding his wrists and ankles that he finally opened his eyes and found Izumi kneeling beside him - her expression too turbulent and dark to read.

Pushing himself to his knees, Al dazedly looked around the laboratory. The tanks of glowing water that once lined the room were empty - shattered by the force of the powerful transmutation that had just taken place. Smoke filled the laboratory, hovering like a blanket over the chalked-in area of floor in the center of the room. Al could see nothing through the smoke. The smell of burnt ozone choked the air.

"What have you done?" Al heard Mustang yell, and watched as the colonel rushed forward, angrily grabbed Tucker by the shoulders and shake him. "Do you have any idea what you've just done!"

The chimera however did not answer and stared at the swirling area of smoke in the middle of the room. Mustang followed his gaze. Everyone else also turned to stare, waiting in tense anticipation and dread to see what would appear.

The smoke slowly began to clear, shifting aside like curtains of thin, gauzy cloth. And then they finally saw of the product of Shou Tucker's transmutation.

Al covered his mouth and stifled a cry of revulsion.

What lay in the middle of Tucker's alchemy array was no human being, but rather the twisted, bloody form of a grotesque monster. Its limbs were bony and warped, its hands nothing more than twisted claws. Its skin was paper-thin and scaly - like a castoff snake's. Organs and twisted bones could be seen through its almost transparent skin. It shuddered and twitched on the floor, gasping for air in a strange, gurgling wheeze. Strands of straggly blond hair were visible beneath its monstrous head. Two demonic eyes - the color of alchemized gold - stared back at Al from a white, inhuman face, filled with the same expression and intelligence of an injured, dying animal.

Staring at the monstrous thing, Al felt an uncomfortable tingle start in the back of his mind. And then, before he even knew what was happening, a flood of images suddenly surged through his mind, drowning him under the visual onslaught of persons, places, and things he never remembered seeing or knowing until now.

A young boy laying unconscious in a sterile hospital bed, his right arm and left leg missing… A man with an X-shaped scar on his face standing over the same boy, a little older now, with the hand of his evil-looking tattooed arm resting on the boy's head… The boy transmuting his arm into a metal blade… The boy asleep with his head resting on folded arms over an open alchemy textbook… The boy grimacing in pain as a new metal arm and leg were attached to the ports of his missing limbs… The boy with a look of grim determination in his eyes… The boy sneaking a shy look at a tall, wrench-wielding girl… The boy frowning… The boy smiling… The boy laughing… The boy, the boy, the boy… Always the boy…

And then with an almost painful gasp, Al finally remembered everything from the missing four years of his life and his older brother, Edward Elric.

Staring at the monstrous thing on the floor, Al saw in his mind's eye the smiling face of his older brother somehow superimposed over that of the twisted creature's. Like they were somehow one in the same.

A horrified scream tore from Al's mouth. Kicking against the ground, the young alchemist frantically scrambled away from the inhuman creature as if to put as much distance between him and it as he could until he finally felt himself collide with the wall behind him.

Then turning his face to the side, he lost the ongoing battle with his own revulsion and horror and spewed out all the meager contents of his stomach.

* * *

Should I continue? Feedback will dictate the possibility of me continuing this or not. 

PLEASE REVIEW!

-LAXgirl


	2. Those Whom We Remember

Whoa… I wasn't expecting such a response for the first chapter. Wow. Thanks. Seriously. (_big goofy grin_) Enjoy the new chapter.

**Chapter Two: Those Whom We Remember**

The monster gave a gurgled screech, its body twitching on the floor.

Roy Mustang stared at the thing in revulsion, bile rising in the back of his throat. Sickness and shock warred with each other for dominance. Disgust the likes he'd never felt before twisted his stomach, threatening to overwhelm him.

Behind him, he heard several soldiers cry out in horror. He couldn't say he blamed them. What they saw before them was a monster.

Beside him, Riza took an unconscious step backwards, her gun almost dropping from her hands in shock. Havoc, Breda, Falman, and Fuery also looked sickened. On the other side of the room, Mustang heard Alphonse retch.

"I did it…" a shaky whisper broke the horrified silence of the room. "I really did it. I brought him back…"

Mustang's heard snapped towards it. Shou Tucker was still kneeling on the ground, staring at his twisted creation in ecstatic disbelief. "I did it. I brought Edward back…"

Roy felt something inside him snap. His vision blurred red. Grabbing the chimera, he landed a brutal punch to the Life-Sewing Alchemist's jaw. "You fool!" he screamed, shaking the chimera by the shoulders. "Do you have any idea what you've done!"

Tucker spit out a mouthful of blood, his lip bleeding from the colonel's blow though that did nothing to erase the insane look lighting his upside-down face. "I brought Edward back," he replied, his eyes shining with excitement. "Now he can bring my Nina back. Ed will know how to do it…"

Roy had to fight himself not to punch the man again. "That thing's not Edward Elric," he hissed in Tucker's face. "That thing's not even human." Angrily shoving the chimera away from him, he yelled over his shoulder to two soldiers standing in the doorway, "Get this pitiful excuse for a human being out of my sight! Now!"

This seemed to bring them out of their horrified daze; because with a startled jump the two soldiers hurried forward and seized the ex-State Alchemist.

"Wait!" Tucker cried as they began dragging him towards the door. "What about my Nina? Edward has to bring my Nina back! He has to make a new Philosopher's Stone! No! What about Nina? What about my Nina!"

And then he was gone.

Breathing hard and still trying to control the storm of rage inside him, Roy glanced at the rotting corpse on the other side of the room. He once again felt revulsion rise in the back of his throat. He'd heard what Tucker had done to his daughter all those years ago. He must have tried resurrecting her at some point, like he'd done Ed. But because she was nothing more than a lifeless doll, the body had eventually died and begun to decompose. He couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of thoughts were going through Tucker's mind to think that rotting, putrid corpse was still his daughter…

It made Roy sick just thinking about it.

A gurgled screech brought Mustang slamming back to reality. The creature had begun weakly clawing at the floor, as though trying to move or crawl away. Its bloody limbs twitched and spasmed, uselessly clawing at the dirty, chalk-lined ground.

Roy felt a mixture of pity and disgust well up inside him. He slowly stepped towards it.

"Sir…" Havoc weakly called after him. "What are we going to do with that… thing?"

Roy carefully stepped up to it. The creature ceased its struggles and looked up at him, wheezing and gurgling like an injured animal. He had to force down the wave of sickness in his throat before he was able to reply.

"This thing cannot be allowed to live," he said, staring at the twisted creature at his feet. "It is an abomination…"

He slowly raised one hand, the alchemy array on the back of his glove standing out like a ring of blood against the pure white cloth. His thumb and forefinger were poised, ready to snap and unleash their hellish fury on this wretched parody of a human being.

The creatures stared at him, wheezing and twitching.

The colonel's hand hovered over it, ready to deliver the fatal blow. His hand shook, his thumb and forefinger pressed together so tightly he could feel his joints ache under the pressure. He had to kill this thing. It couldn't be allowed to live. It was an abomination. It went against everything that made him human. It was nothing but a monster created by a deranged scientist. It had to be destroyed…

But try as Roy might, he could not bring himself to ignite the flammable material of his gloves.

The creature's eyes - a pale amber, like alchemized gold - stared up at him. He knew those eyes. He remembered how they used to stare up at him in defiant challenge, or flash with irritation whenever the issue of their owner's height came into conversation.

He also recognized the strands of blonde hair splayed beneath the creature's head. They were dirty and covered with filth. But he recognized them. Although ugly, twisted, and deformed, he recognized the pitiful creature laying helpless at his feet. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't help but see the face of Edward Elric staring back at him from the face of this hideous monster.

He fought with himself to ignite the deadly flames, to put this poor creature out of its misery. But-

"I can't…" he softly whispered.

Lowering his hand in defeat, Mustang stepped away from the wheezing creature; confusion, sickness, and disgust warring with each other in his heart.

He felt someone step up beside him. "Let me, sir," Hawkeye's voice drifted through his tumultuous thoughts.

Slowly raising her gun, the female sharpshooter took aim at the creature's head. Despite her stoic expression, Mustang saw Hawkeye hesitate. Her gun faltered, its tip shying just ever so slightly away from its intended target. For that to happen, Roy knew Hawkeye had to be in a near distraught state of mind.

The creature - as if sensing it was in danger - weakly began to try to crawl away again. It feebly pushed and clawed at the ground, smearing the pool of blood it'd been born in.

Hawkeye again hesitated, her gun faltering. But then, with a sharpened look of resolve in her eyes, she once again took aim and pressed her finger to the trigger...

"_NO!_" a frantic shout rang out. A blur of red and gold shot out of the corner of Mustang's eye, and before he knew it, Alphonse was suddenly standing in front of them, shielding the creature with his body. "No! You can't do it! I remember now! You can't kill him!" he yelled, blocking the lieutenant's shot.

"Al-" Roy began.

"NO! You can't kill him!" he shouted, too hysterical to listen. There were tears in the boy's eyes, his lower lip trembling frantically. "Please! I remember now! I remember everything! Somehow seeing him helped me remember! Please! You can't kill him!"Roy could tell by the boy's face that Al was teetering dangerously close to the edge of a nervous breakdown. He didn't know how Al suddenly regained his memories; but he knew that that coupled with the unholy return of his older brother could not have done anything good for the boy's emotional state of mind.

"Al…" Roy said, his voice shaking just ever so slightly, "that thing's not your brother. It's not Ed. I know it might look like him, but it's not him. That thing's not even human."

Al's lower lip trembled, tears pooling his pale grey eyes. "I know that!" he cried, his voice breaking with emotion. "I know he's not Brother, but…" He glanced back over his shoulder at the creature still pitifully trying to crawl away. "It's still a living thing. Please. You can't kill him..."

Riza glanced at Roy - her gun still raised - waiting for instruction. Roy looked between Al and the twisted creature on the floor. It's gold eyes stared back at him, boring into his soul.

Shaking his head miserably, Roy motioned for Riza to lower her gun. Hawkeye gave him an unsure look but obediently re-holstered her weapon.

Seeing that danger had successfully been averted, Al slowly sank to his knees beside the creature, his head falling to his chest. An anguished sob escaped the boy's throat from behind a curtain of long blonde bangs. His shoulders began to shake, racked by the sobs of a confused and frightened boy.

Unable to stand the sight of the poor boy's pain, Riza slowly knelt in front of him and drew him into an embrace. "Shh, Al… It's alright. No one's going to hurt it…" she whispered, hugging the boy close as if in apology for what she'd almost done.

Al greedily accepted her offer of comfort and clung to her, his hysterical sobs muffled into her neck.

Roy silently watched them, his heart aching at the sight. Despite his own turbulent emotions, he felt his heart go out to the young alchemist. Barely three hours ago he'd had the boy in his office asking him for any information he could give him about his dead brother. And now, what felt like a lifetime later, Al had his brother and all his memories suddenly back - except that the Ed he loved and finally remembered was nothing more than a twisted, soulless creature writhing on the floor. It was wrong. So horribly, horribly wrong…

Another figure stepped up to him in the middle of the bloody alchemy array. It was the Elric brother's teacher.

For a moment, Izumi just stared at the twisted creature, her expression too dark and turbulent to read; but Roy thought he saw a look of utter heartbreak flash through her eyes.

Slowly shrugging off her jacket, she knelt beside the grotesque parody of her old student and draped it over its twitching body.

"What do you plan to do with him?" Izumi's voice drifted to Roy over Al's muffled sobs. Despite her choice of pronoun, Roy knew the female alchemist was not talking about Tucker or her crying student.

Roy shook his head. "It will probably be taken to a government research lab," he said, refusing to think of that… _thing_… as a person. He couldn't do it. He refused to. He didn't care if it had Ed's eyes or not. That thing could never be Fullmetal or take the place of the one they'd lost three years ago. Ed had been special - completely irreplaceable. "That thing is a monster. It doesn't even look human."

Izumi knelt for a moment of silence, her head bowed to her chest. "Find me a private place to take him," she finally spoke, her voice resolute and brooking no room for argument as she watched the creature twist and writhe beneath her coat. "I can help him achieve his human form. I know what to do…"

* * *

Outside, the world was in turmoil. Great torrents of rain lashed the windows like it was pounding at the glass for entrance. Thunder rumbled overhead as if the very foundations of Heaven were threatening to collapse. The city seemed to cringe under the storm's assault. The waterlogged streets were empty, no one daring to venture out into the deluge. 

As wind and rain beat at the windows, Roy Mustang silently watched the dark haired alchemy teacher inspect the contents of a small drawstring pouch, her expression shadowed.

"This should be enough," she said, looking up and drawing it shut. It sat heavy in the palm of her hand, like a pouch of ill-gotten gold.

No one said anything in response, not quite sure what exactly _to_ say in such a situation.

It had taken some careful maneuvering and pulling of rank, but Roy had managed to secret the product of Shou Tucker's human transmutation out of the abandoned remains of Laboratory Number Five (where he'd on a hunch suspected the deranged chimera had taken Alphonse and gone to search) to a secure location. It was one of Central's low level military medical centers. Despite the institution's close ties to the military, Roy trusted its staff. He knew enough of the doctors and nurses there to ensure their confidentiality and discretion.

With a little manipulation and subtle heavy-handedness, he'd been able to procure a private room on the far west side of the building - away from the rest of the hospital's general population and staff. Despite the perceived privacy though, that hadn't stopped Mustang from stationing two of his men at either end of the hallway to make sure no one else came upon them while Izumi was working with the twisted parody of her old student.

The thing Tucker had transmuted into being currently lay on the narrow hospital bed of the room he, Hawkeye, his personal military staff, Izumi, her husband, and a silent Alphonse Elric stood outside of. Inside, the creature's pitiful groans and inhuman wheezes could be heard through the door.

Al was sitting on a bench near the door, his head held in his hands with his elbows on his knees. His face was hidden behind a curtain of long bangs. Since leaving Laboratory Five, the alchemist had become silent and withdrawn, refusing to speak to anyone. Not that Roy really blamed him… He couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of horror, revulsion, and shock was going through the poor boy's mind right now; especially after he'd just regained the memories of the missing four years of his life.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Roy said, eyeing the small pouch in the alchemy teacher's hand. The thought of what she wanted to do still left a bad taste in his mouth. But for reasons he couldn't begin to fathom he hadn't done anything to talk her out of it, or try to stop her. In fact, he was actually helping her! What was wrong with him? He knew what they were doing was wrong - it had to be! But why did a part of him also hope she somehow succeeded? That twisted parody of a human laying on the other side of that door was the epitome of all mankind's arrogance and egotistical attempts to play God. It had no right to be alive or bear the resemblance of the one Tucker had fashioned it after. It was a monster, a soulless look-alike made in a vain attempt to replace the boy they'd all loved and lost. And it was for that reason more than anything else Roy Mustang hated it. It didn't matter the thing hadn't had any say in whether it'd been created or not. It still existed; and for that Roy could never forgive it.

Yet, despite all his hatred and disgust, a part of him still hoped Izumi succeeded.

God, was he really that desperate? he wondered. Was he really that desperate to see Edward Elric again that he was willing to help this woman complete the final stage of this creature's transformation? It was a sick and twisted game he was playing, but he found himself unable (or perhaps _unwilling_) to stop. He wanted to see bright gold eyes full of challenge again. He wanted to hear profanity-laced threats of retribution. He wanted to see automail transformed into a sharpened blade of steel. He wanted height-related hissy fits. He wanted angry outbursts. He wanted defiant sarcasm. Basically, he wanted Edward Elric back.

He would do almost anything to see the boy or hear his foul backtalk again; even if only for a moment… He supposed that was why he couldn't bring himself to dispose of the soulless Homunculus that'd been created in Edward's place. It was rather ironic when he thought about it. Ed and Al had spent the better part of two years battling the immortal creatures; and that was exactly what Edward Elric had come back as. Yes, it was rather ironic when he thought of it. Exceedingly, heartbreakingly ironic…

Izumi's face was unreadable as she stared at the pouch in her hand, her features shadowed with some emotion Roy could not exactly place. "I don't know if this will work or not," she said, her voice distant. "I've never tried to foster a Homunculus' growth before. I only know that they need to feed on these-" she held up the pouch in her hand for Roy to see "-to acquire their final form."

Roy stared at the innocuous looking pouch. He knew what it held inside. Izumi had shown it to him after she'd demanded they stop at the hotel she, her husband and Al were staying in to get before they'd continued on to the hospital. Inside was a small stash of blood red stones - fake, incomplete Philosopher's Stones, she'd explained. They were what gave the Homunculus their power and strength. It was only after they fed on these that they were finally able to gain their true form.

"Where did you get those?" Mustang said, still staring at the pouch. "I was unaware there were still people trying to make the Philosopher's Stone or some kind of substitute for it."

The alchemy teacher's features darkened. "I found these hidden in my old alchemy teacher's house after her murder. These stones are probably the last of their kind. I doubt anyone has made any more since Ed disappeared three years ago. The method of their creation is just like that of a true Philosopher's Stone: evil..."

"Then why do you have them?" Roy demanded. "I find it strange that an alchemist like you would make a habit out of keeping Homunculus fodder on you like this. What purpose do you have for keeping these stones?"

Izumi did not immediately answer, her expression distant and pained. "I will not answer that," she said. "My reasons for keeping these stones are my own. Let's just say I keep them in case I ever meet someone who might need them…(**1**)"

Roy didn't know what to make of that. He did however see Alphonse cringe out of the corner of his eye, as if with his returned memories he somehow knew what his sensei was talking about.

Turning towards the room, Izumi clutched the pouch of stones to her chest. "No one is to follow me or enter for any reason," she said, pausing in the doorway with her back to the rest of the group. The creature's gurgled wheezes echoed out into the hallway from inside. "If anyone does, I'll kill them…" Then disappearing inside, she closed the door behind her.

For a moment, no one spoke, Izumi's threat and the gravity of the entire situation hanging like a heavy presence in the air. The sound of raindrops on the windowpanes was the only thing to break the tense silence of the hall - that, and the occasional rumble of thunder overhead.

No one seemed strong or brave enough to speak, each lost in their own turbulent thoughts. For several minutes, silence reigned.

But then, just as the storm began to crest in intensity outside, a monstrous scream suddenly pierced the air, echoing through the room's closed door.

Everyone looked up at the sound, horror etched into each of their faces. Al cringed down into his seat, covering his ears with both hands as if trying to desperately block out the horrible sounds coming from inside.

Mustang felt a cold chill run down his spine.

Another inhuman cry rang out, like the tortured screams of some monster in the deepest circle of hell.

A muffled sob escaped Al's throat as he shook his head, clutching his ears as if to somehow make the horrible noises stop. His eyes were clenched shut, tears beading along his eyelashes.

A sick feeling rose up inside of Roy as yet another scream sliced the air. He began to move to the door. This wasn't right. He couldn't let this go on. He had to make it stop...

But before he could reach the door, he felt someone pull him back. He looked up to find Izumi's husband standing behind him with one beefy hand resting on his shoulder. The man said nothing. But with a solemn shake of his head he slowly released Mustang's shoulder, his unspoken message clear: _It's too late. There's nothing you can do now._

For a moment, Roy considered ignoring the other man and barging into the room - the woman alchemist's warning be damned!

But then with reluctant nod of understanding, Roy turned away from the door, an overwhelming sense of helplessness washing over him.

The screams continued, one bleeding right into the next. They seemed endless. Roy was sure he'd never heard such hellish sounds before except perhaps in his darkest nightmares. His men also looked unnerved, their faces anxious and pale.

Al was now sobbing openly, his hands still uselessly clamped down over his ears. Roy couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of thoughts were going through the young alchemist's mind. This was so wrong. This wasn't how Al was suppose to get his older brother back…

Unable to do anything else, Mustang moved to the boy's side and put a gentle hand on his shoulder, offering him a silent anchor of support.

Another inhuman screech sliced the air, making Al cringe under the colonel's touch.

Roy helplessly watched Al sob out his horror and despair as the terrible sounds of the monster that was his older brother filled the corridor.

Roy didn't know how long the screams went on. Ten minutes? Thirty minutes? An hour? Two hours? He didn't know. It felt like forever. But then, after what felt like eternity to the nervous group of soldiers, the screams slowly began to change.

What had first started off as inhuman, animal-like cries slowly began to fade into the anguished screams of a human being. It was a disturbing transition, one that had many in Mustang's outfit exchanging uneasy looks. Even Izumi's husband looked disturbed by the sounds. For the voice screaming so loudly as if in painful torment was a familiar one - one none of them had ever thought they'd hear again…

Slowly, the screams began to fade into silence, the sound of rain against the windows suddenly muffled and distant to their ringing ears.

The door to the hospital room slowly opened and Izumi appeared. The alchemy teacher's face was shadowed and drawn - haunted. She looked exhausted - tiny lines creasing her face - as if the process had somehow taken something out of her. A drawstring pouch dangled from her hand, empty.

Sig moved towards her and gently drew her to his side. Izumi leaned into his embrace, wrapping one arm around his waist as if for both physical and emotional support. She refused to meet anyone's eyes as the two of them began to move off, Izumi leaning against her husband's side.

Roy quickly stepped forward. "What happened?" he demanded, searching the alchemy teacher's face.

Izumi refused to look up and meet his eyes. "It's done…" was all she said before pushing past him and continuing down the hall.

Roy stared after them. Slowly turning back towards the now quiet hospital room, Roy saw that Al had made no move to get up or go inside. He still sat where Roy had left him - his head silently cradled in both hands with long blonde hair hiding his face from view.

Hawkeye, Breda, Fulman, Havoc, and Fuery were all staring at him, as if waiting for him to tell them what to do next.

Mustang slowly moved towards the room. "Everyone wait here," he said, not meeting anyone else's eyes. He paused for a moment in front of Al. "I'll see it first…"

Al did not look up or give any kind of response to show he'd heard the colonel.

The other soldiers said nothing, and silently stared after him as Roy stepped into the room.

Roy hesitated just inside the door once he was sure he was out of his men's sight. He felt a queasy sense of nervousness rise up inside his gut. He didn't know if he wanted to do this. He didn't know if he was ready to see the result of Izumi's efforts.

The bed stood on the far side of the room. He could just make out the figure of a body laying beneath the sheets - motionless and still. Roy could detect no sign of life from its occupant. Did the creature somehow die under Izumi's ministrations? Roy didn't know if he felt hopeful or disheartened by the thought.

Gathering up his courage, the Flame Alchemist slowly stepped towards the bed.

As he drew near, he was finally able to see its occupant's face - and felt his heart clench with a thousand different emotions.

Long blonde hair lay spilled out across the pillow like waves of finely spun gold. Features he suddenly realized he hadn't remembered quite as clearly as he thought he had were like a jolting bolt of color to the ones that'd begun to grow hazy and grey in the back of his mind. Two half circles of dark eyelashes were pressed to pale white cheeks, but Roy knew that behind those eyelids lay two orbs the exact same color of alchemized gold.

Roy felt his heart twist in his chest.

Laying there before him on the bed was none other than Edward Elric…

_No!_ the rational part of Roy's mind screamed as he stared at the boy laying there like a some kind of long forgotten memory suddenly come to life. _No! That's not Edward! That's not Fullmetal! It's a Homunculus! Nothing but a soulless monster! That thing's not even human!_

Looking closer, Roy saw that unlike the one of his painful memories, this disturbing double had two flesh arms. He also suspected that underneath that sterile white hospital sheet lay a matching set of legs. He was also uncomfortably aware of the tattoo marring the boy's right upper arm. It was the image of a winged serpent devouring its own tail - the mark of a Homunculus…

_No… this thing isn't Fullmetal_, he thought with a renewed sense of hatred. _The Edward I knew was mismatched and scarred, but completely wonderful in everything that made him him. This thing's nothing but a perfected double…_

Standing straight, Roy stared at the sleeping boy with warring emotions. A part of him wanted to let his hatred blind him so he could wash his hands of this soulless look-alike and leave without ever looking back or having anything to do with it again. And yet…

And yet…

It still looked _so _much like the boy he remembered…

Roy felt his heart ache with a jumbled confusion of emotions. Could he somehow have the Edward Elric he remembered back? Could he somehow regain a piece of that foulmouthed prodigy through this cheap replacement? But could he ever look at the face of this disturbing double without somehow seeing in the back of his mind the image of a twisted monster laying in the middle of a bloody alchemy array?

Lost in his turbulent thoughts, Mustang was only brought back to the present when he happened to catch the whisper of a barely-audible moan come from the bed.

Roy froze, staring at the sleeping figure. His heart thundered madly in his chest. He suddenly found himself unable to move, trepidation and unexplainable fear robbing him of voluntary movement.

Another groan - like a fevered whimper - sounded somewhere in the back of the boy's throat. His eyelids weakly fluttered.

And then, as Roy watched in fearful paralysis, the boy's eyes slowly opened, drifting apart as if each weighed a thousand pounds and it took all the boy's strength to pull them apart. Just as Roy had imagined (and feared) the boy's eyes were gold - like the color of a brilliant summer sun.

The two gold orbs blankly stared ahead, as if their owner was still caught in the midst of some hazy exhausted dream. Blinking, the two orbs slowly swiveled around the darkened hospital room, taking in their surroundings - before finally coming to rest on the dark haired man standing beside the bed.

Mustang felt his breath hitch in his throat.

The boy stared at him, his fevered eyes boring into Roy as if somehow trying to place the face standing over him.

Mustang stood there for what felt like an eternity staring into those hauntingly familiar pools of gold. Those eyes… Oh god, those eyes… He knew those eyes… Why did they have to look so familiar? Why did they have to look at him with such intensity? Why did they have to stare at him as if this disturbing look-alike might somehow know who he was? Why-

"Colonel…?"

The raspy whisper rang like a gunshot through the silent room.

Roy felt his heart clench painfully in the middle of his chest. That voice… He knew that voice. Though weak and dry as a piece of sandpaper from the hours just spent screaming at the top of his lungs, there was no denying whose voice that was…

As if that single word had drained him of all his strength, the boy's eyes slowly began to drift shut again, exhaustion robbing him of consciousness.

And as Roy watched in turbulent, heartbroken silence, the soulless counterpart of Edward Elric slipped back into the dark abyss of unconsciousness.

To Be Continued…

* * *

(**1**) Despite the ambiguous hints, Izumi's talking about Wrath. She's still holding out on the hope of her Homunculus child someday coming back to her. 

A/N: The show and manga never really went into how long it takes for a newly born Homunculus to gain their true form, so I kind of had to take artistic licensing here to speed up the process. I also couldn't help but think it would be a painful process for the Homunculus involved. Any thoughts?

PLEASE REVIEW!

-LAXgirl


	3. Those Whom We Forgive

Sorry for the delayed update, but Japanese classes have been kicking my butt lately.

**_Warning:_** some swearing this chapter.

**Chapter Three: Those Whom We Forgive**

Rain beat noisily against the windows. In the distance, a low rumble of thunder echoed across the heavens. A light chill hung in the air, laced with dampness.

Another clap of thunder sounded, this time closer.

A murmured groan - like that of one waking up but reluctant to leave the dark void of unconsciousness just yet - sounded. A thin figure shifted beneath the sheets of a bed on the far side of the room. Tussled blonde hair - the same color of sun bleached straw - spilled across the pillow, shining dully in the pale grey light.

Yet another roll of thunder sounded, this time rattling the panes of glass.

Slowly, two eyelids drifted apart to reveal bright gold irises. For a moment, they stared ahead into nothing as if their owner was unwilling to return to full consciousness. Exhaustion glazed the two pools of gold, dulling their inherent brightness.

As another crash of thunder sounded, the owner of said eyes - a lithe, long-haired boy about eighteen years old - turned his face to the side and nuzzled it deeper into the pillow.

"Goddamn rain…" came a groggy, muffled curse.

Pulling the covers closer, the boy burrowed deeper into his cocoon of blankets, as if determined to ignore the storm and go back to sleep. But it seemed Fate wasn't about to let him; because just as he started to drift off again another deafening crash of thunder sounded, shaking the very foundations of the house.

"GODDAMMIT! Can't a guy get any sleep in this godforsaken world!"

Kicking back the covers, the boy angrily rolled out of bed and stood. Clad in only boxer shorts, the boy made a striking sight. Although not impressive in either height or build, the sight of two prosthetic limbs attached to his right shoulder and left leg would have made anyone give pause and stare at the blonde teenager. Ragged scars ran back and forth across his flesh at the base of each artificial limb, as if his missing limbs had somehow been torn from his body instead of cleanly cut.

Stalking to the window, an irritated Edward Elric stared out the rain-streaked glass. An angry, storm-blackened sky met his gaze. Munich's rain-drenched skyline stretched out before him like a dark watercolor painting. Below, the streets were empty - no one, it seemed, willing to brave the torrential downpour currently unleashing its fury on the quiet city.

Ed gave a sigh. He wondered if it was raining back home. Whenever something happened in this world he often found himself wondering if the same was happening in the world he'd left behind.

Ed turned away from the window, suddenly feeling despondent. That usually happened whenever he caught himself thinking about Amestris or the people still there.

_Three years…_ he thought as he went about the tedious chore of getting dressed. (No matter how flexible his bastard father might have made his replacement prosthetics, they were no where as agile as Winry's automail ones he'd outgrown several years ago; thus making things like getting dressed a somewhat clumsy affair.) _Three years and I still haven't found a way to get back home…_

On the wall behind him was a poster of a rocket shooting across the sky. Since sacrificing himself to the Gate to revive his brother and finding himself in this strange world, he'd devoted himself to finding a way back. He had to get back! He had to see for himself that he'd succeeded in restoring Al. But as of yet, he still had not discovered a way to do so. There was no such thing as alchemy in this world, and no matter how much he studied he couldn't seem to unlock the secrets of this world's technology. Rockets and airplanes, zeppelins and jets. None of them brought him any closer to going home. There were times when he truly began to wonder if he would ever see Amestris, his brother, Winry, Pinako, Izumi, the Central gang, or even that bastard colonel ever again…

Finally finished, Ed shrugged his long brown coat on and went into the kitchen of the small apartment he lived. The flat was unusually quiet.

"Alphonse?" Ed called. "Alphonse, you here?"

There was no answer from anywhere in the apartment. Glancing at the table, Ed saw a note. Picking it up, he read:

_Edward, I had to go to the factory early today. Our patrons wants us to move the rocket's intended completion date up several weeks. I don't know if I'll be back tonight. Signed, Alphonse._

Ed sighed and set the note back down. He didn't know how he felt about his brother's alternate double, Alphonse Heiderich, and his team of engineers working for this group of secret benefactors. There was something suspicious about them. Over the last few months he'd begun to hear odd things around the city. There was whispered talk of revolution and of a man that could restore Germany to its former glory - a chairman of the Nazi Socialist Party named Adolph Hitler. It was said he would once again make the world recognize the superiority of the Aryan race.

Ed might not have cared much about politics or the problems of this world since it was not his own, but he could tell something was brewing - something big. And for some reason he had a feeling Alphonse's mysterious benefactors were somehow connected to this chairman and his gang of swastika wearing paratroopers. He didn't like it. Something about it all gave him a bad feeling inside…

Shaking his head to rid himself of his paranoid unease, the gold haired teenager turned towards the door. He had research to do. He'd heard rumors lately of a new study being done by a theoretical physics professor in Berlin - an Albert Einstein - on Brownian movement, or the zigzag motion of molecules. If he could somehow unlock the secrets of this Brownian movement and learn the ways a human body's atoms could be manipulated or changed, he might be one step closer to someday finding a way home. He knew it was a long shot, but at the moment he was starting to get desperate and willing to try anything. He didn't care how he got back home - only that he did. He wanted to see his little brother and everybody else again so badly he would do almost anything.

Making his way downstairs, Ed gave his landlady, Gracia, a quick wave as he headed for the door.

"Edward," she called, arranging a pot of daffodils near the counter, "where's your umbrella? It's pouring outside."

Ed had to smile. No matter how different the Alphonse of this world might be to his own, Gracia Hughes' flower shop keeping double was exactly the same - a worrying mother type through and through. Neither him or Alphonse could ever seem to make it out of the boarding house without Gracia making sure they had hat, muffler, coat, or umbrella depending on the season or weather. It almost reminded him of having a real mother.

"I'll be fine, Gracia. My coat has a hood." He quickly pulled it up over his head. "See? I'm just going to the library for awhile."

"But, Edward, I have an umbrella right here behind the counter. Just wait there a moment while I get it-"

"That's alright, Gracia, I'll see you later!" Then with one last wave, Ed escaped out the door before the motherly shopkeeper could stop him.

Outside the streets were empty; almost completely deserted. The only other people he saw were those waiting out the deluge in shops or cafes, and the occasional car that rumbled past in the street. Rain pattered softly on the top of Ed's head, dripping off the brim of his hood into his eyes. He made no move to wipe the water away though. The rain was strangely calming. It helped him his forget his troubles and the ever present ache in his heart for the ones he left behind.

As Ed continued to walk with his head bowed to the driving rain, he happened to catch the sound of a car coming up the street behind him. It sounded like it was moving fast. Veering to the side to avoid the inevitable spray of water as the car passed, Ed walked closer to the buildings.

But the car never went past him. Instead, Ed heard the car slow down and match his speed, pacing him from several yards behind.

Ed felt as uneasy feeling rise up inside him. Something wasn't right.

Continuing to walk like he hadn't noticed he was being followed, Ed surreptitiously glanced back over his shoulder towards the suspicious car. It was black without any distinguishing marks. Its windows were partially fogged from the chilly rain, making it difficult to see how many people were inside, but Ed had a sinking feeling there were more than one.

Ed felt his unease grow. Who were these people? Why were they following him? What could he have done to attract these people's attention?

He continued to walk with his head bent low. He could try and lose them, he thought. There was a plethora of side streets he could disappear down that were too narrow for the car to follow. He would just have to time it so he could get away before whoever was following him had time to get out of the car and chase him.

But before Ed could make his move, he heard the car suddenly stop and several doors open.

_Shit…_

"Hey kid!" a voice yelled over the hiss of rain. "You Edward Elric?"

"Who wants to know?" Ed replied, turning to face the car. There were three men, all of them dressed in dark clothes. Through the curtains of misty rain he saw pins attached to each of their lapels - black swastikas in the middle of white, red rimmed circles.

_Nazis…_

"It's none of your business who we are," one of the other men said, stepping closer. "We'll only ask you one more time: are you Edward Elric?"

"So what if I am?" Ed replied, warily eyeing the three men. "It's kind of rude not to introduce yourself especially when you're asking someone else for their name."

"We need you to come with us," the first man said.

"Sorry. I don't make a habit out of going places with people I don't know."

The third man stepped closer, as did his companions. "Please come with us," he said, his tone implying he was doing everything _but_ nicely asking Ed to come with them. "This concerns Shambala…"

Ed stared at the man, his eyes narrowing. "Sorry. Don't know the thing. I have to get going." Turning, Ed began to walk away. The first man's voice called after him.

"We have your father Hohenheim. We know where you're really from."

Ed froze, his heart thundering madly against the inside of his chest. His father? He hadn't seen his father since before his trip to Romania. When he'd returned to Munich he'd found their apartment empty and his father gone. It was like Hohenheim of the Light had simply vanished. At first Ed had been resentful - feeling like he'd once again been abandoned by the man who'd caused his mother and family so much grief. But now… now he had to wonder if Hohenheim's disappearance was really the old man's doing or someone else's.

And what was this about them knowing where he was really from? Did they somehow know about Amestris?

Whatever the case, something deep inside Ed was telling him not to go with these men; even if it meant finding out what happened to his estranged father.

"Don't know the guy…" Ed muttered, willing his feet to start moving again. "Good luck with whatever this Shambala thing is though."

"I'm sorry but we're going to have to insist you come with us," one man said.

"You have no choice in the matter," said another.

Ed glanced over his shoulder again back towards the men and idling car. His eyes narrowed. "Like hell I don't…" Then kicking off the ground, Ed took off running.

He heard the men take up pursuit behind him.

His footsteps echoed loudly through the rain drenched streets, as did those of his pursuers. He could hear them slowly gaining on him - getting ever closer. His makeshift prosthetics were not as good as Winry's. His artificial leg did not move or respond to his muscle signals as efficiently as his old one's had, which slowed him down. The straps and attachment harness of the limb also jarred his leg stump painfully. He knew he wasn't going to be able to outrun his pursuers. They were too fast and he was not a runner. The last three years spent researching a way back home and not training hadn't done anything for his stamina. He was going to have to lose them some other way…

Ducking into a narrow alley, Ed put on a new burst of speed. He heard his pursuers follow in after him. The other end of the alley was about a hundred yards away. He knew if he could make it to the other side, just down the street to the left was a small constables station. At this time of day Maes Hughes' alternate double - a local policeman - was almost certain to be on duty.

Ed's breath was starting to come in short, labored gasps. If he ever made it back home one of the first things he was going to do was have Izumi whip him back into shape - he didn't even care if she stranded him on that stupid little island of hers again. This was just pathetic…

He could hear his pursuers getting closer. They were probably only half a dozen feet behind him now.

The other end of the alley was still a good fifty yards away.

Forcing more effort into his stinging leg muscles and artificial leg, he grabbed the rim of an empty garbage can as he passed and pushed it over into the middle of the alleyway. He heard one of the men stumble and fall over it.

Smirking, Ed put on an extra burst of speed. He was almost there. He was now only twenty some yards away.

But just as he began to think he was going to be able to escape his pursuers, Ed suddenly felt one of the men grab the back of his coat and pull him backwards. He stumbled and fell to the ground.

Before he could do anything to recover or defend himself, two sets of hands grabbed him and slammed him up against the wall. Ed struggled against his captors.

"Let me go, you bastards!" he yelled, kicking and swinging his fists. It was times like this when he really missed being able to use alchemy or being able to transmute his arm into a metal blade.

A brutal punch to his abdomen however stilled the teenager's struggles. Ed doubled over against the wall, coughing and gasping for air. He saw spots dance across his vision.

"Damn brat…" one of the men holding him hissed.

The third man that had tripped over the trashcan came up behind the other two holding Ed. "Make sure it's him," he said, angrily adjusting his dirtied clothes as he glared at the boy. "We don't want any mistakes with identity."

One of the men holding Ed grabbed the bottom of the boy's jaw and shoved his head back against the wall. Ed angrily glared at the man and began struggling again. The second man delivered another punch to his stomach. Ed crumpled against the wall, his body slackening as he gasped for breath.

The man holding his jaw roughly pushed Ed's hood back and peeled open one of his eyes. "Blonde hair, gold eyes…" he noted to the third man standing behind him. Grabbing the collar of Ed's shirt, he ripped it to the side to expose the boy's right shoulder and the edge of his prosthetic arm. The second man reached down and lifted the bottom of Ed's left pant leg, exposing the smooth white plastic underneath. "And artificial right arm and left leg… It's just like the psychic girl said. It's Edward Elric alright."

The third man nodded and reached into the inside pocket of his jacket, withdrawing a small bottle and handkerchief. Unscrewing the top, he poured a small amount of liquid into the middle of the handkerchief. Stepping towards his cornered victim, he pressed the cloth over Ed's mouth and nose. A strong, pungent odor filled Ed's nose.

Ed frantically began to struggle, but the two men holding him only tightened their grip, stilling his movements. Ed tried to hold him breath against the noxious fumes trying to invade his airways, but before long the need for air became too much and he was forced to take another lungful of the chemical laced air.

His felt his body grow heavy and weak, his vision going blurry. His eyelids suddenly felt as if they both weighed a thousand pounds.

And just before everything went black, the last thing Edward saw was the shiny lapel pin of one of his attackers - a red rimmed circle with the bent cross of a Nazi swastika…

* * *

Outside the storm was beginning to lessen, although rain continued to angrily lash against the windows. The halls of the medical center were quiet. To anyone observing it would have almost appeared as if the place was deserted except for the two people sitting on a bench together outside one of the hospital's private rooms. 

Lieutenant Jean Havoc glanced at the boy sitting beside him with his head silently held between his hands. He anxiously chewed the end of his unlit cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. He was starting to get worried. Since the night before - the night the Elric brothers' alchemy teacher completed the final stage of her Homunculus student's transformation - Al hadn't spoke or made any kind of move to follow anyone else's suggestion to go rest. He just continued to sit there, holding his head in his hands. Havoc was beginning to wonder if the boy wasn't suffering some kind of mental breakdown. He couldn't say he blamed him if he was…

What happened yesterday still felt like some kind of horrible nightmare. When they'd stormed into the abandoned laboratory to save Al and seen what that crazed ex-State Alchemist had transmuted, he'd almost thrown up. That thing… that _monster_ Tucker created had not been human. He now knew why alchemists were forbidden to perform human transmutations. The thought of that creature laying in the middle of a bloody alchemy array still sent a cold shiver down his spine.

He was surprised the colonel hadn't followed through with his threat to kill it; although he understood why Mustang hadn't been able to do it. From Ed's earliest days in the military he'd always known the colonel had had a soft spot for the kid and secretly looked after him like he was one of his own. He had seen the anguished torment in the colonel's eye when Mustang had stood over the twisted parody of Edward Elric in Laboratory Five. And he had seen the raging storm of emotions on the colonel's face when he'd emerged from the Homunculus' room the night before. Havoc was pretty sure that was the first time he'd ever seen his commanding officer so close to tears.

Glancing at the boy beside him, Havoc felt an overwhelming sense of pity wash over him. Poor Al… He kept forgetting how painful the entire ordeal must have been for him; getting all his memories back and then someone trying to resurrect his dead brother. Alone either would have been a traumatic enough experience, but together… it was enough to make anyone go mad. He only wished he could do something for the boy. It just didn't seem fair. He'd always liked the younger Elric brother although it was kind of strange to be sitting next to him like this when he still remembered him as a hulking suit of armor.

He kind of wished the colonel had stayed longer. Mustang had always had a way with the two Elric boys. If anyone was suited to watch over Al right now it probably would have been him. But because of Tucker's arrest Mustang and the rest of the team had had to return to Central Headquarters to make reports and fill out all the necessary paperwork. The Elric brothers' teacher had also gone with them to make a formal statement. Havoc knew it was going to take some fancy maneuvering on the colonel's part to cover up what really happened last night in Laboratory Five.

Havoc had been the only one to stay behind. Mustang had been wary to leave the Homunculus unguarded until they decided what they were going to do with it, and had also wanted someone else to stay behind and watch Al. As of yet, the boy still hadn't made any move to get up or leave the spot he'd spent the entire night. It was like he'd withdrawn inside himself to escape the horrible pain of what had happened.

"Al? Hey," Havoc called, gently shaking the boy's shoulder. The boy slowly raised his head and looked at the lieutenant with bleary, bloodshot eyes. Havoc felt a wave of pity go through him at the sight. "You're probably getting hungry. I'm going to go downstairs to the cafeteria to get something. What would you like?"

Al stared at him a moment before sullenly looking back down at the floor. "Nothing. I'm not hungry."

Havoc frowned but tried to keep his tone light. He wasn't sure if he was actually trying to cheer Al up or keep himself from acknowledging the awful situation they both found themselves in. "Aw, come on, kid. I know you've got to be starving; you didn't eat anything last night either. I'll go get you something. And maybe some coffee too. It looks like you could use some."

Al didn't reply and continued to sit hunched over in his seat, staring at the floor.

_Well, at least I got him to talk_, Havoc dolefully thought.

"I'll be back soon," he said and gave Al's shoulder a comforting pat.

Al said nothing as the lieutenant walked off. As Havoc disappeared about a turn, the boy slowly raised his head and stared in the direction the lieutenant had gone. The hallway was now completely empty except for himself. No one else was in sight. Rain pattered softly against the windows, drumming a mournful beat.

Glancing to his left, Al stared at the door of the quiet hospital room. Besides Izumi and the colonel, no one else had gone inside. He knew that like himself, they were reluctant to see the finished product of Tucker's transmutation. It was too painful to think that that monster Tucker made now bore the unmistakable resemblance of the boy they'd lost so many years ago.

Al felt his stomach twist. He could still see in his mind's eye that twisted creature staring back at him with his brother's eyes - those haunting gold eyes. He remembered how he used to love his brother's eyes; how they used to stare into the distance with such fiery intensity. They had always used to remind him of liquid gold. He supposed they were what triggered the sudden return of all his memories. Because after seeing them, how could anyone ever forget those eyes or the one they used to belong to?

If only they were the eyes of his actual brother… How badly he wished they were. Somehow the return of his memories made the existence of this Homunculus Ed all the more painful to bear. Because now he actually remembered his older brother - the real Edward Elric. He didn't need any stories or pictures to remind him who his older brother was now. He remembered clearly now how his brother used to look, used to sound, used to hold his head up high even if it was only to make himself look a few centimeters taller. He remembered his brother's angry tantrums, his never ending fights with the colonel, the look of fear in his eyes whenever the name of their childhood alchemy teacher came up. He remembered everything. And because of that, he felt the hollow ache in his heart swell to untold heights every time he thought about the soulless being laying on the other side of that door. It was just too much…

Choking back the anguished sob that threatened to tear itself from his throat, Al shakily stood. He had to see the Homunculus. He had to see for himself if it really looked like his missing brother. He had seen the colonel's face when he'd emerged from the Homunculus' room the night before - the confusion, and anguish and pain. He knew it was going to be painful to go in there and see his brother laying there but know it really wasn't him. He knew it was going to hurt. He knew it was going to tear his already bleeding heart to pieces. But he had to see his brother's soulless look alike for himself.

And so, with one last steadying breath, Al opened the door and slipped inside.

* * *

He wasn't sure what exactly woke him or prompted him to return to the painful world of consciousness; but as the veil of darkness slowly began to lift, Edward Elric weakly forced his eyes to open. His entire body hurt. It felt like someone had run it through a meat grinder, then roughly molded it back into shape. There wasn't an inch of flesh that didn't hurt. His muscles felt like they'd been brutally stretched and torn. Even his bones ached. Pain seemed to seep into the very core of his being. He was sure he'd never felt so sore in his entire life. 

As he groggily looked around he found that the room was dark. A single lamp glowed on the bed stand, creating a large arch of light around it. He didn't know where he was, but it looked like he was in some kind of hospital.

Why would he be in the hospital, he wondered. When did he get hurt? Did something happen? For some reason he couldn't remember. His head felt like it was full of black, cottony fuzz. He felt like he should know what was going on, but for the life in him couldn't. Nothing made sense. It hurt so much to focus or try and organize his scattered thoughts.

Blinking bleary eyes into focus, Ed slowly looked around the room. His eyelids felt so heavy. He felt like he could sleep for a year and a day and still be tired. What happened? He felt so exhausted. And his body… He could barely move without sending blinding waves of pain through his torn and shredded muscles.

Fighting back exhaustion and pain it took Ed a moment to realize there was someone else in the room with him, standing several yards away in the shadows near the door. He had to blink several times before he was finally able to make out who it was.

"Al..?" he shakily whispered. His voice sounded so weak even to his own ears. His throat was so dry it felt like it was on fire. But he didn't care. Because the sight of the one he saw stole all other thought from him.

He saw the figure stiffen before slowly, hesitantly, stepping closer into the light.

Ed could only stare in disbelief. Standing before him was a boy no older than thirteen years old - his eyes a pale grey color with long blonde hair. He looked so familiar. Like someone he used to know - someone who looked so much like himself before he'd disappeared in a vortex of swirling white transmutation light.

"Al?" Ed rasped, as if afraid to find out the one he thought he saw before him was nothing but a feverish hallucination. "Al, is that really you?" Hope trembled his raspy voice. Could it be? Could it really be him?

The boy said nothing, and stared at him with tear choked eyes. If Ed hadn't been so dumbstruck by the sight of his little brother he might have noticed the look of utter heartbreak twisting his younger sibling's face.

"Al… your body… You got your body back," Ed whispered, staring at his brother in disbelief. "You're not a suit of armor anymore…"

He couldn't believe it. Al was whole again. He'd gotten his body back! But how? Had they somehow finally found the Philosopher's Stone? But then why didn't he remember them doing so? These and so many others questions churned Ed's mind, but he could barely made himself care how this miraculous event had come to be, only that it had.

He weakly reached out for his brother, wanting nothing more than to pull his brother close and know for a fact he was no longer an empty suit of metal, but rather living human flesh and blood. He wanted to hold his little brother in his arms and feel the warmth of his skin and know he was truly and honestly alive.

But instead of rushing into his waiting arms like he expected him to, Al leapt back, shying away from his touch as if afraid he might get burned.

Ed stared at his brother his confusion. "Al?" He could hear the hurt in his own voice. "Al, what's wrong?"

Al still said nothing, staring at him in utter anguish. Tears began to pool along the bottom of his eyes, threatening to spill at any minute.

"Al?" Ed was starting to get scared. What was wrong? Why wouldn't his little brother come to him? Why was he acting like he was afraid of him?

He once again reached out to Al, forcing his aching muscles to move. He so desperately wanted to hold his little brother close. He was in so much pain. All he wanted was to hold Al close and know he was once again whole. But why wouldn't he come to him?

Al again shied away, moving so he stood on the edge of darkness, half a dozen feet away. Ed stared after him in hurt confusion.

"Al-"

"Shut up!"

The boy's teary cry rang through the room like a gunshot. His lower lip was now trembling, as if fighting to keep himself composed but failing miserably. Several tears streaked down his cheek.

"Shut up! Don't speak to me! You're not my brother!"

Ed stared at him from the confines of his bed as if Al had just slapped him across the face. "Al… What are you talking about? Of course I'm your brother."

"No you're not!" Al screamed, shaking his head as if trying to deny some horrible truth only he knew. "You're not my brother! You're not him! You're just something Tucker made to replace him!"

"Al, what are you talking about?"

Al stared at him, tears streaming down his cheeks. "My real brother's dead. He died giving himself to the Gate to restore me three years ago," he sobbed. "Tucker wanted to revive Brother through human transmutation and created you instead. We tried to stop him but he started the transmutation before we could." An anguished sob tore itself from Al's throat. "You're not my brother…"

Ed stared at him, feeling as if someone was trying to play some kind of cruel joke on him. "How can you say that, Al?" he said, his eyes pleading with Al to stop saying these hurtful things. "Look at me. It's me, Ed - your brother. We've been together since the day you were born. I remember how we always used to play with each other-"

"Shut up!"

"-I remember how Winry always used to yell at us whenever we talked alchemy around her -"

"Shut up!"

"-and I remember how we tried to resurrect mom."

"_Shut up!_" Al screamed, his hands clenching into fists by his sides. Helpless tears of anger streamed down his face, flashing brightly in the dull lamplight. "Those aren't your memories! They're just memories Tucker implanted in you when he took my blood and added it to the composition elements! You're not my brother!"

"Stop saying that!" Ed cried, desperately trying to make his brother listen. Why was Al doing this to him? "Why won't you believe me that I'm your brother?"

"Because I can see that thing on your arm!" Al cried, and pointed accusingly at Ed's right shoulder. "If you really have my brother's memories then you'll know what that is."

Ed turned his face to the side and for the first time since waking realized he no longer had an automail arm but rather his natural flesh one. For a moment, Ed just stared at it, not quite sure what to make of its unexplainable presence. Wiggling his toes, he also realized he had his real left leg. What was going on? The last time he remembered he had two metal limbs - his original two lost in the horrible transmutation they'd tried to bring their mother back with. Something wasn't right.

Slowly raising his arm - his torn arm muscles screaming in protest - he stared at the limb. Almost experimentally he flexed his fingers and marveled at how the flesh digits responded to his muscle commands. But as he turned his arm over to continue his examination he caught sight of something marring his upper right shoulder. He slowly turned his arm more so he could see it better. It was a tattoo. A tattoo in the image of a winged serpent devouring its own tail…

Ed froze, staring at the thing in horror. No… This wasn't right. This couldn't be!

He desperately looked up at Al, his eyes begging him to tell him what he saw wasn't real. But Al wasn't looking at him. He was staring at the floor, his face hidden behind a curtain of blonde bangs. That did not stop Ed from seeing the lines of anguished tears rolling down his brother's cheeks though.

He turned back and stared at the hideous tattoo.

How could this be? How could this be real? This wasn't right!

Ed felt his airways constrict, panic seizing his heart. No! This wasn't right! There had to be some kind of mistake! There was no way this could be true! There was no way he could be one of those soulless things - one of those Homunculi!

Ed felt tears sting the corners of his eyes. No. This wasn't right. He remembered! He remembered things only the real Edward Elric could! He remembered him and Al trying to resurrect their mother then losing their bodies to the Laws of Equivalent Exchange. He remembered them burning down their house after he'd become a State Alchemist. He remembered them searching for the Philosopher's Stone. He remembered… Roy Mustang standing over him in a darkened room with his hand held out over him as if ready to ignite the deadly spark that gave him the title Flame Alchemist.

_NO! _That wasn't right! Why would he remember the colonel doing that? Mustang might have been an arrogant pain in the ass, but he remembered him always looking out for him -always going out of his way to protect him.

Tears leaked out the corners of Edward's eyes as he stared at the ceiling above his bed. He was so confused. Why would the colonel have been trying to kill him? He'd always tried to protect him. He would never try to harm him. But then why did he remember Mustang standing over him like that?

"Al…" Ed begged, turning his head to the side to look at the boy standing at a distance from his bed. Confusion, hurt, and fear thickened his trembling voice. "Please… please tell me I'm the real Edward Elric. Please tell me this is all just some kind of joke. Please tell me I'm your older brother…"

But Al refused to answer. His pale grey eyes were filled with tears, staring at him with such heart-wrenching anguish Ed felt as if they were somehow blaming him. Al shook his head, hiding his face from view behind a curtain of dark blonde hair. Then, as if unable to stand the sight of Ed laying there anymore, Al suddenly turned and fled the room, his long red coat snapping behind him in the air. He never even paused to look back as he disappeared from sight.

Ed stared after him, devastation washing over him. The room suddenly felt cold, like an empty grave. Loneliness and pain the likes of which he'd never felt before exploded in his chest.

No… this wasn't right. This wasn't right! This wasn't right! There was no way this could be true!

But looking at the serpent brand on his shoulder, Edward knew that what he saw was no lie or joke. What he saw was real.

Unable to deny the horrible truth anymore, Ed turned his head to the side and buried his face in the pillow. And with no one there to comfort him or hear his helpless cries, the soulless boy screamed his anguish into the empty silence of the room.

* * *

Consciousness returned slowly to Edward Elric. His head felt like it was wreathed in some kind of dense fog that refused to fully lift. His stomach ached painfully although it didn't feel like anything was broken. Groaning, Ed forced his eyes open. The world swayed as he held his bruised stomach and gingerly pushed himself to his knees. 

_Where am I?_ he wondered as he looked around his new surroundings. It looked like he was in some kind of castle or old cathedral. He was sitting at the base of what looked like a huge continuous rampway that spiraled up around him, creating a sort of gothic interior tower. A domed ceiling stretched out overhead at least five stories above the ground. Torches glowed around the perimeter of the circular area of floor in which he sat.

"What the hell…" Ed muttered, looking around. As far as he could tell, no one else was there - the men who'd attacked him earlier no where to be seen. Wincing, he began to push himself to his feet. But as he pushed against the floor to give himself the extra momentum he needed to stand, the teenager suddenly froze.

Beneath him, crisscrossing back and forth across the ground was an elaborate series of lines. They surrounded him, creating a huge pattern at least forty feet across.

It was a giant alchemy array…

For a moment, all Ed could do was stare, stunned by the sight of the painfully nostalgic symbol. It was an alchemy array the likes of which he'd never seen before. The points, division lines, and intricate pattern… it was something so complex Ed never would have imagined it even in his wildest dreams.

"Surprised, shorty?" a loud, throaty voice suddenly boomed out of nowhere.

Ed leapt to his feet. "Who's there?"

A nasty chuckle rumbled the air. "What's the matter, squirt? Don't remember me? I'm hurt."

Finally pinpointing the source of the voice, Ed looked up - and froze.

Encircling the interior circumference of the tower several stories above the ground was a giant serpent-like creature. Its draconian body was held in place by a series of metal chains and brackets attached to the walls. Blood red eyes stared down at Ed as the creature squirmed and twisted, straining against the metal links holding it captive.

"Envy?" Ed gasped, staring at the monstrous form in disbelief. He recognized that sly, mocking voice no matter what form the Homunculus shape shifter was in. "What are you doing here?"

An angry hiss came from the giant serpent's mouth. "I followed you here to find that bastard, Hohenheim, and kill him," Envy growled, ferociously snapping his fangs. "But he's proven harder to find than expected; and since this world doesn't seem to follow the same rules as ours, I can't transform back into my normal self."

Ed snorted. "I don't know if that's actually a good thing or bad thing. You always were an ugly bastard…"

Envy hissed and snapped his teeth at the teenage boy. "Shut up, pip squeak! You're only second on my death list after that bastard Hohenheim. Don't think I don't plan of biting you in half the second I get free."

Ed was about to open his mouth and shoot back another foul retort, but just then he heard footsteps and turned to see a small group of people emerge from the shadows of the room and come to stand on the edge of the giant alchemy array.

"Ah… I see you're already acquainted with our Giant Snake. This might make things easier for us…" said a tall blonde woman - apparently the leader of the group by the way the rest gathered around her. Like the men that had kidnapped him, a Nazi swastika was pinned to her collar. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Dietlinde Eckart, head of the Thule Society."

Behind the woman stood a tall professor-type looking man flanked by several swastika-wearing men with guns. Beside him, hiding in the shadow of the woman leader was a dark-skinned girl no older than Ed himself. She had an exotic look to her, as if she wasn't from that part of the country. If Ed wasn't mistaken, she looked like the alternate double of Roze Thomas from his world. The girl had a distant look in her eyes and seemed reluctant to look in Ed's direction - as if she was somehow guilty for him being there. And behind her-

Ed felt his heart clench.

-behind the dark-skinned girl was none other than his own father, Hohenheim of the Light, held on either side by two Nazi guards. His hands were bound in front of him and he looked as if he had suffered a recent blow to the face. His left temple was a livid patch of discolored purple skin.

"Old man!" Ed exclaimed.

Looking up, Hohenheim stared at his son with some thing akin to dismayed heartache. "Edward… so they found you after all…"

"_You!_" Envy roared and began thrashing against his restraints, biting and snapping the air in the direction of the blonde man. "I'll kill you!"

Eckart gave a throaty chuckle as she watched Envy writhe and growl. "He's feisty today… That's good. Maybe he'll finally be willing to cooperate…"

"Who are you people and what do you want with me?" Ed demanded, angrily glaring at the woman.

The woman gave him a taunting smile. "As I already mentioned we are the Thule Society. We are a group of people who believe in the potential of human beings someday superceding our current limitations of existence and tapping into the very powers of the universe. Some people may call us mystics or the occult, but I like to think of ourselves as visionaries. We are the ones that will one day open the doors to the human being's true potential.'

"Not long ago, our dear Karl Haushofer here-" she gestured to the academic-looking man beside her "-happened to meet your father Hohenheim at a Thule Society meeting, and learned of a fantastic world parallel to ours in which people can change the very structure of an object and turn it into whatever they want through a mysterious art called alchemy. Needless to say, we were eager to learn more of this alchemy and this fabled world 'Shambala.''

"Unfortunately, it seems your father was unwilling to reveal to us his secrets or how we might reach Shambala. Even after we were forced to take him into our… hospitality he still refused to tell us anything. It was only after we acquired this psychic gypsy girl that we were finally able to learn the basics of how alchemy works. But even after capturing the Giant Snake we still cannot seem to open a gateway to Shambala…"

The woman stared at Edward, a triumphant grin twisting her lips - like that of a predator eyeing its cornered prey. "We know you are from Shambala and that you are Hohenheim's son. The gypsy girl told us about you and how we might find you. Since your father is so unwilling to help us, you will have to do. We want you to open a gateway to Shambala."

"If I could, I already would have a long time ago," Edward snorted, contemptuously staring at the blonde woman. "Alchemy doesn't work in this world in case the old man over there didn't tell you. Besides, even if I could open a gate to my world, it would probably cost me my life. Equivalent Trade. That's one of the first rules of Alchemy. You have to give something in order to get something in return. What you want me to do is impossible. But even if it wasn't, I still wouldn't do it for a bunch of goose-stepping freaks like you."

"I don't believe you," Eckart sneered. "You're lying. You're just like you're father: difficult and stubborn."

"So I've been told… (**1**)" Ed growled.

"I see we're just going to have to make you see things our way," Eckart said, motioning to her team of soldiers. "I doubt a little boy like you will last very long…"

Ed's nostrils flared, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Why don't you come over here and call me a tiny shrimp who can't defend himself in a fight!"

Eckart chuckled darkly under her breath. "Stubborn, but lively… I like that." She glanced at one of her soldiers. "Don't hold back. Just make sure you don't kill him."

The soldier curtly nodded, then stepped towards Ed. Two other soldiers followed.

Ed dropped into a fighting stance, warily eyeing the three guards. One soldier lunged at him. Dropping low, Ed delivered a punch to the man's abdomen. Gasping for air, the man crumpled to the ground holding his stomach.

Ed grinned. He might have lost some of his stamina over the years but he'd forgotten none of his old alchemy teacher's training. A punch from Izumi was something one didn't easily forgot, or how one went about avoiding one of those aforementioned punches.

A second guard came at him. Ed leapt back and ducked to avoid the man's fist which came flying at his head. Grabbing the soldier's overextended arm, Ed pivoted and flipped the man over his shoulder using the guard's own momentum. The soldier hit the ground and lay gasping for his air on his back.

A smirk twisted Ed's face. This was it? This was all the all-powerful, Nazi-backed Thule Society had to offer? This was pathetic.

But just then a gunshot rang out, shattering the boy's cocky thoughts.

Ed crumpled to the ground.

Pushing himself to his elbow's Ed looked up to find the third guard standing several yards away with a smoking pistol in his hand. As Ed tried to get back to his feet, he was startled to find his left leg suddenly refusing to respond to his muscle signals or bear his weight. Looking down, he saw that the soldier's bullet had torn a path through his artificial leg's kneecap - completely immobilizing it.

Ed stared at the armed man with a cold wash of horror. He could no longer stand or fight. He was helpless.

The soldier's gun was trained on him, its barrel staring down at him like some kind of evil black eye.

"Are you willing to work with us now?" Eckart's voice rang from the edge of the array. "As you can see, the Thule Society is not one to waste time on foolish little martial art fights. We mean business."

Ed glared at her with defiant gold eyes. "Screw you," he hissed.

Eckart's lips twisted into a scowl. "Such foul language for such a little boy... Kohler," she called to the guard standing over Ed, "shoot him in one of his real limbs. Maybe that will help him see the light. And if that doesn't work, shoot him in another until he finally does. Just don't make any of them too serious. We don't want him permanently crippled after all…"

Ed stoically glared at the man as the soldier stepped closer and took aim at his other leg. He wasn't going to look away. He wasn't going to give these people the pleasure of seeing him scream or cringe under their torture. He didn't care how many times Eckart ordered the man to shoot him; he wasn't going to give in.

But just as the soldier was about to press the trigger, a loud shout followed by the startled cries of two Nazi soldiers sounded from the edge of the array. Both Ed and the guard looked over.

Wrenching his arms out of his guards' grip, Hohenheim swung his bound hands at one of the soldiers' faces. It connected with a sickening crunch and gush of blood. The guard fell to his knees, holding his shattered nose. Before the second guard had any time to react, Hohenheim delivered a similar blow to him, knocking him backwards to the ground. Brutally shouldering his way past Haushofer, Eckart, and the frightened gypsy girl, Hohenheim ran towards the middle of the alchemy array where Ed lay with his shattered left leg. Like an angry battering ram Hohenheim plowed into the last guard, knocking him to the ground. The man's gun fell out of his grip and slid across the polished floor out of sight.

"Someone, stop him!" Eckart yelled from the edge of the array.

Above them Envy thrashed in his restraints, biting and snapping in Hohenheim's direction. "I'll kill you, you bastard!" he yelled, straining against the chains holding him captive.

Ed stared at his father in bewildered surprise as the older man knelt beside him. "Old man, what are you-?"

"There's no time, Edward," Hohenheim said, cutting him off. "You have to go home. I know you think you can't do alchemy in this world, but you can. The Nazis have found a way to bypass the natural limitations of this world. With this array you can get back."

"But what about the Equivalent Trade?" Ed said, somewhat frightened by the intensity of his father's voice. "I'll be killed. What will I give in exchange?"

"Give me," Hohenheim said, meeting his son's frightened gold eyes. "I have caused you so much pain and suffering over the years giving you a chance to go back home is the least I can do."

Envy's thrashes were becoming more violent. He viciously roared and snapped the air, driven beyond the point of coherent thought in his thirst to kill the man he'd searched for and hated for so long. The rivets of the metal bands holding him captive began to groan under his struggles. Several popped out of the walls and rained down on the two kneeling in the middle of the alchemy array below.

Ed stared at his father in horror. "No! I can't do that! I won't!"

"Edward," Hohenheim calmly said, "this is your only chance to go home. I should have died lifetimes ago. My time is over while you have only begun to live. You do not belong in this world. You have to go back. Alphonse needs you. I know how hard you've spent these last few years trying to find a way back. But the only way to do that is to sacrifice me. Please. Let me do this for you. Let me do this last thing for you as your father who didn't deserve you as a son."

A thunderous roar from Envy sounded overhead. Chunks of rocks and twisted metal rained down onto the array. Several of the metal bands holding the shape shifting Homunculus captive snapped, ripped from the walls as if they were mere pieces of tin foil.

Ed stared at his father with watery eyes. He felt his throat constrict with long repressed emotions. "Old man…" he choked, struggling to keep his voice from breaking. "_Dad_… please don't make me do this…"

"You have to, Edward," Hohenheim said, cupping his son's face in between his hands. "You have to look after Alphonse. When you see him, tell him I'm sorry. Tell him I'm sorry I was never able to be there for you." He stared into his son's eyes, tears brimming along his own. "I'm so sorry, Edward…" he whispered. "For everything… Please forgive me."

Envy was now completely free. His serpentine body lashed the air, pulling the last few rivets from of the walls.

"Dad…" Ed begged, pleading with the man not to make him do this.

But Hohenheim refused to listen. Releasing his son's face, he leaned back on his heels and met Ed's teary eyes. "There's no more time, Edward. You have to do it. Now!"

Above them, Envy roared and descended upon them like some demonic god of death. His fangs gnashed the air, thirsting for blood.

"Now, Edward! Do it!" Hohenheim cried.

With tears in his eyes Ed looked at his father one last time. Hohenheim's face was peaceful as he stared at his son, a bittersweet smile tugging his lips. It was like he'd finally found meaning in his last few moments of life. A tiny sob escaped Ed's throat as he clapped his hands together and miserably slammed them against the enormous alchemy array beneath them.

Brilliant white light exploded up from the painted black lines and engulfed them. Ed felt the very air around him surge with power. And then - hundreds of tiny black arms reaching out to grab him - Ed felt himself pulled away into the very fabric of time and space - back home to Amestris…

To Be Continued…

* * *

(**1**) In original Japanese text, Ed's title "Hagane" can mean both "Fullmetal" or "stubborn." That's why when Mustang gives Ed the papers giving him his new Alchemist title he says it's an ironic name for Ed. (ie. the Stubborn Alchemist) 

**_A/N_**: I was debating for a long time how I was going to write the Homunculus Ed and Al scene. I couldn't help but see Al as being in a state of confusion and despair, and with Homunculus Ed talking as if he was the real Ed it would have been too much for Al to stand and would have made him blindly lash out like that. Any thoughts?

PLEASE REVIEW!

-LAXgirl


	4. Those Whom We Welcome Home

Big thanks to those that reviewed the last chapter! Your feedback is always appreciated and treasured like bars of gold.

**_Warning: _**Some swearing, again… In fact, just take this as your official warning for the rest of the story. A certain blond alchemist is back in the picture so choice words are bound to fly from now on.

**Chapter Four: Those Whom We Welcome Home**

Time and space held no meaning to Ed as he hurtled through the fabric of the universe. The Gate was an endless void of light and flashing images. He felt as if his head was being ripped apart, overwhelmed by the _Truth _of everything he saw. He felt like he was drowning - drowning in a sea of images that were simultaneously terrifying, captivating, mystifying and strange.

It was only when he felt himself hit the ground that Ed was painfully jarred back to the present and himself. For a moment he just lay there, panting for breath. His thoughts were a jumbled mess, his mind still trying to cope with everything that'd happened within the last few minutes: his father, the Nazis, the Gate… It was all so much so fast he was left in a daze.

But then an angry, monstrous roar suddenly sliced the air, shocking Ed out of his stupor.

"Where is he? Where is that bastard! I'm going to tear him in half!"

Ed's head snapped up.

Beside him, coiling and lashing the air like some kind of giant whip was Envy still in his draconian form. The shape shifting Homunculus was almost foaming at the mouth with rage, his blood red eyes viciously snapping back and forth in search of his prey.

"Hohenheim! Where is he? I'm going to kill him!"

Ed stared in horror. He didn't know how, but the Homunculus had somehow been sucked through the Gate with him during the transmutation. But how? Why hadn't Envy been killed by Equivalent Exchange? His father's sacrifice couldn't have bought both of them passage through the Gate.

_The soldiers,_ Ed suddenly realized with a sickening twist of understanding. The Nazi guards Eckart had attack him had still been inside the array when he'd activated the exchange. That was how Envy had managed to follow him through the Gate. He'd unintentionally sacrificed them alongside his father and brought Envy back with him…

Ed felt hot sickening guilt rise up inside him, threatening to overwhelm him. He'd just killed three innocent people - four if he included his father. All so he could go back home…

But Ed didn't have time to contemplate his guilt anymore as Envy's tail suddenly slammed into the ground several feet to his side, sending up a great plume of dust.

"That bastard!" Envy screeched, gnashing the air like a rabid dog. "That bastard, where is he!" His coiled body twisted and turned on itself, his tail blindly lashing out against anything within range like a giant wrecking ball.

Ed scrambled backwards across the ground, desperate to avoid Envy's tail. His left leg uselessly dragged across the ground behind him. The Nazi's bullet had completely shattered his left knee. The bottom half of his leg was hanging on by only a thin section of metal and wire. He was as good as crippled. There was no way his artificial leg would be able to support him or move the way it was now.

Clapping his hands together, Ed pressed them to his shattered limb. Brilliant blue light encased his leg. When the light finally receded his left knee was once again whole, but Ed could tell it was not the same it had been before a deadly bullet tore apart his leg's internal wiring. At most, all he did was fix the casing so he could stand and maybe hobble away before Envy realized he was there.

But it seemed Fate once again was not on his side that day…

Like an angry viper, Envy whipped around and glared at the blond alchemist.

"_You_…" he hissed, venom and promised death dripping off every letter. "What did you do with him? What did you do with Hohenheim?"

Ed carefully pushed himself to his feet. He felt his leg wobble dangerously under him as he put his full weight on it. It's casing had been thinned in the transmutation he'd used to fix it. "He's gone," he said, his voice slightly strained. "He gave himself to the Gate so I could cross over."

"No!" Envy roared. "You bastard! Hohenheim was mine to kill! Not yours!" A thunderous roar of anger exploded from the Homunculus as he lashing his tail at the ground, leaving a shallow crater in its wake. "You little bastard! I'll kill you! He was mine! Mine! I'll kill you!"

Like a five ton living freight train Envy lunged at Ed, his mouth a yawning cave of darkness lined with razor sharp teeth.

Ed quickly leapt to the side, only barely missing Envy. As he jumped out of the monstrous Homunculus' path he felt his leg momentarily give out under him and stumbled - his hastily repaired knee refusing to properly bend. He barely managed to steady himself and leap aside as Envy turned and lunged at him again. This time he felt one of the Homunculus' teeth actual graze his coat sleeve.

For the first time in many years Ed felt the first true hint of fear worm its way up inside him. He was injured (or at least partially incapacitated) and in no condition to fight. He had no idea where he was, and currently had a monstrous snake baring down on him, thirsting for his blood. Hohenheim was gone and Ed had no illusions about himself becoming the Homunculus' new focus of rage. He had taken away the shape-shifter's number one goal in life - to kill their alchemist father. There would be no escaping the Homunculus' wrath now. Envy, he knew, would hunt him to the very shores of Hell if that meant getting his revenge.

Leaping to the side as Envy once again lunged at him - tearing out a huge section of ground right where Ed had been standing no more than a few second ago - Ed turned and ran.

It was a well known fact that Edward Elric was not a coward or one to run away from a fight. Many people over the years had criticized him for refusing to admit defeat and continue fighting even when it was obvious he couldn't win. Some called him foolish for his tenacity, others called him proud. He, however, liked to think of himself as honorable.

But there was a difference between being honorable and suicidal. And in this case having a fifty foot giant snake coming after him when he was in no shape to fight back was suicidal…

As he pushed all the effort he could into running on his weakened leg, the blonde alchemist quickly took stock of his surroundings, trying to figure out where he was. When he'd first arrived he hadn't had much time to see where the Gate had decided to drop him.

What he saw almost made him forget all about the angry shape-shifter chasing him.

He was in the middle of what looked like some kind of plaza or derelict city square. Broken pillars and ruined buildings surrounded him like the skeletal remains of some long dead creature that refused to stay buried in its grave. Buildings of strange, nostalgic architecture leaned towards each other, as if lamenting the stillness of the empty stone streets they lined. Several hundred feet above, a rocky ceiling stretched overhead like some kind of twisted parody of a sky.

Ed didn't need to see more to know where he was. He could already picture the empty, ghostly landscape in his head; the miles of deserted streets and buildings.

He was in the underground city below Central - a city that had mysteriously vanished along with all its inhabitants in a single flash of light more than four hundred years ago. A city sacrificed to create a blood red Philosopher's Stone…

Behind him, Ed heard a monstrous roar. He could almost feel Envy's breath on the backs of his heels.

"You little bastard! I'm going to rip you in half!"

Ed almost stumbled and fell as Envy lunged at him and tore a giant chunk of concrete out of the ground only several inches in back of his running feet. He managed to keep his footing though and continue running. His breath was starting to become labored. He was still tired from his fight with the Nazis, and the transmutation he'd used to return to Amestris with had zapped him of strength. He had to get away from Envy - and soon! - or he was as good as dead.

_Dammit, I don't want to die down here,_ Ed thought as he ducked Envy's snapping jaws and veered into another street, trying to lose the serpent in the city's dilapidated maze of streets. _Not when I'm finally home and so close to seeing Al again. I can't die down here. I won't!_

Ed desperately searched the surrounding area. He had to find the exit. That was his only chance - to get above ground and away. If he remembered correctly, the path he'd followed down from the abandoned church three years ago was somewhere near the eastern end of the city, close to where the Gate had returned him and the hate-filled Homunculus. If he could just reach it, he might be able to get away…

Envy's promises of death rang loudly through the abandoned city behind him. Buildings crumbled in the serpent's path - Envy not even bothering to try and avoid them but rather smashing right through them in his rage to catch his fleeing prey.

Ed ducked down yet another street, this one leading towards the edge of the city. The underground cavern's wall loomed ahead of him in the gloomy darkness like promised salvation. Ed pushed more effort into his aching legs. His artificial leg wobbled dangerously under him. His knee was starting to fail. He could feel the casing beginning to bend under the strain of supporting his weight as he ran. He had to hurry. Just ahead he could see a tunnel in the cavern wall several dozen feet above the ground on a rocky ledge. Through the tunnel he could make out the faint outline of roughly hewn steps leading up into darkness - back towards the surface. A rocky path had been cut into the side of the rock wall leading to the ledge. If he could just reach it he could escape. Envy was too big to follow him up the stairs. He was maybe only a hundred yards away now. If he could just reach it…

Envy made another lunge at him, this time managing to snag the edge of Ed's coat with one of his fangs. Ed was pulled backward. The sound of ripping cloth filled the air. As the force of him being wretched backwards spun him around Ed somehow managed to slip his arms free of his coat while simultaneously managing not to be thrown to the ground. Barely wasting a beat, he keep running. Envy roared in anger as he was left with nothing but a tattered coat dangling from the corner of his mouth.

Ed finally reached the base of the switchback path leading to the ledge. Scrambling up the rocky slope, Ed heard Envy follow after him.

"I'm going to kill you, you little runt!" the draconian Homunculus screamed.

Ed reached the top of the ledge and took off in the direction of the stairs. He was so close now. So close. So-

Envy's teeth clamped around the bottom of his left leg.

Ed fell sprawling face first to the ground. He screamed as his prosthetic leg twisted in the Homunculus' jaws, its casing tearing at the fragile scar tissue of his leg stump.

Pain flared white in his eyes. The teenage alchemist was barely able to focus enough past the pain to clap his hands together and slam them to the ground. Spikes of transmuted rock shot out of the ground beneath Envy, impaling the Homunculus' draconian body.

Envy howled in pain but refused to release his hold on Ed. As if in retaliation of Ed's attack, Envy wrenched his head to the side, brutally twisting Ed's leg between his jaws.

Ed's agonized screams echoed across the empty city.

Almost subconsciously - survival instincts kicking in - Ed blindly slammed his hands against the ground again, this time transmuting a deadly looking spear. Barely even waiting for the transmutation to finish, Ed spun the spear around in his hands and plunged it into one of the Homunculus' eyes.

This time Envy did release Ed's legs, the giant serpent rearing away from Ed with a thunderous roar of pain.

"You bastard!" Envy howled, whipping his head back and forth, trying to dislodge the spear still hanging from the bloody remains of his eye like some lopsided porcupine spine. "You bastard! You bastard! I'll kill you!"

Ed weakly pushed himself to his knees, his left leg mangled into an almost unrecognizable mass of plastic, metal, and hanging wires. He somehow managed to get his misshapened limb under him and half-limped, half-dragged himself towards the rectangular patch of darkness he knew would lead him to the surface.

Behind him, Envy finally managed to tear the spear from his eye. Blood streamed down the Homunculus' scaly face. "You bastard!" he screamed and lunged after the fleeing alchemist.

Ed only barely managed to stumble through the narrow portal and partway up the first few steps before Envy's jaws slammed through the doorway after him.

But that was as far as Envy got; for the Homunculus' head was too large to follow him any father.

"You bastard! I'll kill you!" Envy screamed into the narrow tunnel, still viciously gnashing his teeth at the blond alchemist laying half-sprawled up the stairs just outside his reach. "I'll kill you, you fucking brat, I'll kill you! You hear me!"

Ed lay there a moment gasping for breath before he weakly pushed himself to his feet and forced his aching body up the slippery stone steps. His left leg throbbed fiercely; he didn't know if he would be able to fix it again. Envy had mangled it almost beyond recognition. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to try and see if he could repair it now. He had to hurry and get to the surface. He didn't know how long he had before Envy found a way to follow him, but he knew that when he did all Hell was going to break lose.

Panting and biting back the pain that flared through his torn leg stump with every step, Ed was sure the winding stone steps leading back to the surface had never looked so long or steep to anyone else before…

* * *

As Ed's battered, limping form disappeared from sight up the lightless tunnel, Envy screamed in murderous rage. The Homunculus spun away from the stairs. He had to find another way to the surface. He wasn't going to let the little brat get away. He was going to tear him apart until there was nothing left but a few bloody scraps. 

With a thunderous roar, Envy whipped around and spotted the rusty cage tracks of an elevator shaft running up the opposite side of the cavern. He remembered it well. It was the same elevator he, Lust, Gluttony, and Dante had used all those years ago to reach this underground necropolis - the same elevator shaft he'd use now to reach the surface and hunt down his deceased father's favored son and tear the little brat apart. He wasn't going to stop until the Fullmetal shrimp and everyone else he knew were dead or sitting in the bottom of his stomach.

Speeding towards the empty elevator shaft, Envy squeezed himself in and began to viciously worm his way up.

He was going to kill the brat! He was going to tear that little shrimp in half just like how he was going to kill that bastard Hohenheim! It was the brat's fault he could no longer get his revenge on Hohenheim; his fault he no longer had any meaning to go on except to kill anyone unlucky enough to cross his path now; his fault he was going to tear this disgusting city of humans apart building by building until there was no one left to kill. He was going to rip him apart! He was going to bite him in half! Rip off his head! Pull his limbs off one by one then leave him to watch as he crushed that empty suit of armor he called his brother between his jaws!

He reached the top of the elevator shaft. Said elevator was currently stopped and blocking the top of the shaft. But that did nothing to stop Envy in his frenzied rage as he slammed through the empty car as if it was nothing but a cardboard box. Metal buckled and twisted aside in the monstrous serpent's path. A thunderous crash of crumbling masonry and cloud of dust filled the air as Envy tore himself free of the elevator shaft and into open space. The building he found himself in was dark - apparently abandoned since Dante and his fellow Sins used it as their crossover point to the underground city.

But the shape shifting Homunculus took no time to take in his surroundings. For with a deafening roar, Envy slammed through the outer wall of the dilapidated building and into the rainy streets of Central beyond.

The brat and everyone else in this city were going to pay…

* * *

Roy Mustang was having trouble trying to focus on the stack of papers in front of him. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to make the words make any sense in his jumbled mind. They were Shou Tucker's arrest papers and formal report of Al's abduction. He was trying to figure out how to write them without saying anything about what actually happened (and been ungodly made) the night before in the basement of Laboratory Five. He already had the Elric brothers' teacher's carefully edited statement about her student's abduction and several other reports from his subordinates concerning the raid on the abandoned research facility. But he knew if he made one slip and someone higher in the military food chain caught wind of the illegal human transmutation that had taken place, they would immediately demand to see the product of Shou Tucker's transmutation and cart it off to some government research lab. 

And he couldn't let that happen. Not now. Not when the thing Shou Tucker made looked so much like the boy he once knew.

Roy had to push the stack of papers away from him for fear of tearing them to shreds in his despair and helpless burst of rage. Hawkeye would not be pleased to come in and find all his hours of hard work laying in pieces on the floor.

That boy… oh god, that boy… It had looked exactly like Ed. It still made him sick thinking about it. How could he have let that crazy woman talk him into letting her finish that Homunculus' transformation? What had he been thinking? What once had been nothing but a twisted, grotesque monster he could hate with no twinge of doubt or qualms now bore the unmistakable resemblance of the one he now wished more than ever was still alive.

That thing had looked so much like Ed. God, it had sounded exactly like him! How was that possible? How could that soulless thing look and sound so much like the foul-mouthed prodigy he once knew? It didn't seem right. It shouldn't have been possible. Such a mockery of the boy it was made to replace was a sin - an abomination of everything that was natural and holy.

He tried to drive the image of the soulless boy laying in a hospital bed from his mind. He tried to erase the image of the boy's hauntingly familiar eyes staring back at him like two pools of liquid gold. He tried to forget the barely audible whisper of his title slipping from the boy's lips.

But try as he might, the image of Edward Elric continued to haunt his thoughts like some restless spirit.

Roy rested both his elbows on his desk and held his head between his hands.

He should have killed it. He should have killed the thing when he still had a chance - when it was still nothing but a twisted monster. But not now. Not when it looked so much like Ed. He knew he would never be able to raise a hand at it again. It just looked too much like the teenage alchemist for him to kill it now. That was why he had to cover up Tucker's transmutation. He couldn't let anyone else find out about Ed's Homunculus look alike. He might have hated the thing, but he couldn't bare the thought of a group of military scientists coming to drag it away to some government lab; because that would be just like losing Ed again. And he couldn't stand the thought of that happening. He would rather die than see the boy taken away - even if it was Ed's soulless look alike. That would tear him apart inside, not to mention Fullmetal's little brother. If not for himself, he couldn't let that happen to Al. The real Ed would somehow find a way to come back from the dead and kill him if he ever knew Roy let his little brother suffer anymore than he already had…

The sound of hurried footsteps and frantic knock at the door abruptly startled the colonel out of his thoughts.

Not even waiting for Mustang to answer, the door flew open to reveal an unnaturally worried looking Hawkeye. "Colonel," she said and hurried into the room. "We've just received reports of some kind of creature attacking civilians on the eastern side of the city. Military stations in that sector have already sent troops to try and stop it, but they've sent an urgent message requesting immediate backup."

Mustang was already halfway out of his chair. "Alert all units. Tell them to prepare to move out. Contact north and western stations in the city and alert them to the situation. We move out in five minutes."

"Yes, sir!" Hawkeye saluted and hurried back out the door.

Grabbing his gloves from the corner of his desk, Roy pulled the flammable material down over his hands. No longer was there any trace of the broken man that'd been sitting there only a few moments ago. For in his place now stood the impressive figure of Roy Mustang, State Certified Flame Alchemist.

Personal matters would have to wait. Roy almost welcomed the distraction and urgent call to duty. At least for a little bit, Roy thought as he headed for the door, he wouldn't have to think about the blond ghost of his past or his disturbing soulless look alike…

* * *

Rain beat heavily against the windows as Al stared out the water-streaked glass. His eyes were distant, clouded with tears and unspeakable despair. His eyes were puffy, his expression heartbroken. He looked lost, like a child abandoned and not quite sure what to do or where to go next. 

Havoc watched him with barely concealed concern. The boy hadn't spoken a word or moved from the spot he stood since he'd returned from the cafeteria to find Al standing by the window down the hall from the Homunculus' room. There'd been tears in the boy's eyes and he'd looked like he was mere moments away from a total breakdown. He hadn't gone in to check but he thought he'd heard muffled sobs coming from the Homunculus' room.

A part of Havoc wanted to go to Al and try to comfort him, but something deep inside him was telling him doing that would do absolutely no good. Al was lost in his own personal hell right now, and nothing he could do or say was going to change that. If anything, Havoc was afraid of accidentally doing something that would inadvertently push the boy over the thin edge he was already teetering on. No. Better not to ask questions. Better to let the boy come to grips with everything that'd happened and _then_ offer him comfort and a shoulder to lean on. But until then all Havoc could do was watch - and it was absolutely killing him. Once again he found himself wishing the colonel was there to look after the youngest Elric brother. If anyone could share Al's pain right now it was probably him.

Havoc glanced at the door beside him. The room was quiet. He hadn't heard anything from the Homunculus for almost twenty minutes now. It was probably unconscious again. From what he'd gathered from the Elric brothers' teacher and the colonel (and his own speculations from the tortured screams he'd heard the night before), after surviving such a brutal transformation, it was doubtful the Homunculus was going to be in any shape to move or stay awake for any length of time within the near future. If the creature's screams alone were any indicator, he didn't think it was going to be up for at least another two weeks. Nothing could make that much noise and not have been left partially crippled.

A part of Havoc was kind of curious to see the Fullmetal Alchemist's resurrected double. Would it remember who he was or have the same extensive list of swearwords as the original Ed? These and other questions tantalized Havoc's mind. But despite his latent curiosity, the lieutenant had no desire to actually see the alchemist's soulless double. He still remembered with sickening clarity the twisted monster laying in the middle of a bloody alchemy array. And it was that single image - more powerful than any curious wonderings he might have had - that stopped him from looking inside that room.

Leave human transmutations and Homunculi to the alchemists, he thought. That was how he planned to make it out of this mess with his sanity still intact.

If only he could say the same for Al or the colonel though. Neither of them, he knew, were going to be getting any sleep any time soon.

Havoc sighed and chewed the end of his unlit cigarette. God, he wanted a smoke! Why did hospitals have to be so uptight about no smoking policies? He swore hospitals were one of the few places on earth where smoking should be allowed if it was allowed anywhere else. Lord only knew no one ever went to the hospital for something that didn't warrant at least a few lungfuls of comfort-inducing nicotine.

Fortunately, Havoc didn't have to worry about counting down the hours until he was relieved of duty and free to go smoke his cigarette. For just at that moment a deafening crash - like that of a building collapsing somewhere nearby - sounded, shaking the very foundations of the hospital. Right behind that came the blood-chilling roar of what sounded like some kind of monstrous beast.

Both Havoc and Al spun around, looking at each other in confusion.

Another crash sounded, this time closer, followed by yet another monstrous roar.

"What the hell!" Havoc exclaimed. He pulled his service piece from its holster and held it by his side.

Al said nothing, too stunned to venture a guess.

"This can't be good," Havoc muttered, and began to move for the exit. It didn't look like he was going to get to smoke that cigarette anytime soon. Why did Hell always have to break loose whenever he was on duty? "Stay here, Al," he said, cocking his gun. For some reason he had a feeling he was going to need it ready.

"No, I'm coming with you," Al said, his voice surprisingly firm as he fell into step beside the lieutenant.

For a moment Havoc debated ordering the boy to stay, but then stopped. He had no authority over the boy, and for the first time since Laboratory Five he saw a spark of life in Al's pale blue eyes. It almost reminded him of the way Ed used to look right before he went into battle…

Havoc gave a heavy sigh. "Alright, kid. But if the colonel asks, I tried to stop you."

Al nodded, but then seemed to hesitate. Slowly, he turned back towards the door of his Homunculus brother's room. He seemed to debate with himself for a moment before hurrying to the door and glancing inside. His eyes momentarily dimmed at the sight of whatever he saw inside, but then turning away, Al nodded to Havoc. "Let's go." His eyes once again had that sharpened look in them, but Havoc would have had to been deaf not to hear the strained tone in Al's voice.

He didn't get a chance to say anything about it though as another monstrous roar sounded in the distance.

Gripping his gun tighter, Havoc nodded to Al, and together the two of them disappeared down the hall.

Meanwhile, in the darkened hospital room, the blond Homunculus lay in deep unconsciousness, unaware of the monster currently unleashing its fury on the rain-drenched city outside.

* * *

Tires screeched as Riza Hawkeye slammed on the brakes and brought the car to a skidding stop. Behind her, a line of other military vehicles came to a halt, soldiers spilling out of the covered trucks before the vehicles even came to a complete stop. 

Colonel Roy Mustang leapt out of the car and into the rain-laced air. His expression was stern and almost frightening in its intensity - the living example of a commanding officer. If there was one thing that could have pulled him out of his depression and back into his role of calm commander it was the threat of danger. And that was exactly what he was facing.

Before him, instead of a crowded cityscape of storefronts and buildings was a wasteland of leveled masonry and brick. Everything within at least a five block radius of where he stood looked like it had just suffered some kind of massive bomb. Despite the rain, fire raged amongst the rubble, sending great plumes of smoke billowing into the misty air. People were running in terror, screaming as fires continued to rage behind them like some kind of fiery vision of Hell.

Over the screams and falling hiss of rain, Roy heard a monstrous roar echo across the burning landscape. Whatever had made it sounded large - and close. Roy felt an unfamiliar thrill of fear race up his spine. He didn't know what they were dealing with, but whatever it was didn't sound natural or like anything he'd ever faced before.

Mustang glanced over his shoulder. Troops were lining up behind him, waiting for orders. Hawkeye was beside him, her dark red eyes narrowed as she un-holstered her pistol and held it ready by her side. His other subordinates - Fulman, Breda, and Fuery - also stood close, their faces grave in anticipation of the coming battle.

Somewhere in the distance the sound of muffled gunfire and screams echoed through the rainy air.

"First and second divisions will follow me," Roy called over the rain and distant sound of gunfire. "Third and fourth divisions will flank the north and southern sides and converge on our target from three sides."

An answer of scattered shouts and salutes met the colonel's orders.

Roy turned back towards the burning ruins of the city, his eyes dark with purpose. "Move out!"

Troops divided and began to move into the demolished maze of streets. As Roy and his team of soldiers hurried towards the sound of battle, the gunfire progressively became louder and more frenzied in pitch. A monstrous roar cut the air. The screams of dying, frightened men were now sickeningly clear.

Turning around a smoking pile of rubble, Roy and his men finally came upon the cause of the apocalyptic devastation. At first all Roy could do was stare, unable to comprehend the sight of the monstrous beast he saw.

A giant dragon-like snake - at least fifty feet long! - was attacking a small unit of soldiers from that section of the city. Its serpentine body twisted and coiled, lashing its tail at the men like some kind of giant whip. As Roy watched, its tail collided with one of the buildings behind it and sent it crumbling to the ground in a massive cloud of dust and flames.

The soldiers already engaged in battle opened up a new round of fire on it. But the rain of bullets hardly even seemed to faze the beast. With a thunderous roar, it lunged at them. Soldiers scattered and dove out of the serpent's path, but Roy was sure he saw at least one man disappear in a burst of red between the monster's teeth.

"Colonel, what should we do?" Hawkeye's voice cut through his horrified daze.

Mustang instantly came back to himself. "Spread out and form an offensive line to concentrate fire on the monster until the other two divisions arrive." His orders were instantly passed on.

As his men hurried to get into position, Roy saw a flash of red out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Jean Havoc and Alphonse Elric hurrying towards him. At first Mustang was surprised to see them, but then remembered with a tiny jolt the hospital he'd left them at that morning was only a few blocks away from where he currently stood.

"Colonel, we heard some kind of explosion and came to investigate," Havoc said as he and Al finally came to a stop in front of him. "What happened? Are we under some kind of attack?"

"What is that thing?" Al exclaimed. Havoc's eyes also widened as he turned and saw the giant snake unleashing its fury on the burning buildings.

"I don't know, but whatever it is we have to stop it before it destroys half the city," Mustang replied, his voice steely.

Behind them, the serpent gave a thunderous roar and lunged at several soldiers, their terrified screams echoing through the rainy, smoke filled air.

"On my command!" Roy yelled, stepping up towards the line of soldiers. "_Fire!_"

A barrage of gunfire rained down on the monstrous beast. The snake reared back, howling in surprise as the bullets struck its scaly hide.

"Bastard!" the serpent roared.

Roy was not the only one to blink or step back in surprise. Had he just heard this thing speak?

With a vicious hiss, the snake swung round and glared at the line of soldiers with one blood red eye. Its other eye - Roy noted - was nothing but a bloody mass of flesh; as if someone had taken a knife to it and tore it out.

"_You_!" the snake hissed as its blood red gaze suddenly focused on Roy. "I remember you. You're that brat's commanding officer." A nasty growl rumbled somewhere deep inside the serpent's throat. "Where is he? Tell me! I know you know! If he knows you're still here he'd go to find you. Tell me where he is!"

Roy stared at the beast, not quite sure what to think. Who was this thing talking about, and how did it know who he was? Was it maybe one of Tucker's chimeras demanding to see its creator? But then why did it say it remembered him being his commanding officer? The Life-Sewing Alchemist had never been under his command, and he was pretty sure he'd never met a giant talking snake before…

"Tell me!" the snake snapped.

"I don't know who you're talking about," Roy replied, yelling over the falling hiss of rain.

"You're lying!" the serpent roared. "Tell me where that fucking brat is!"

"I told you, I don't know who you're talking about," Roy said.

An angry growl rumbled the air. "If you won't tell me where he is, then I'll _make_ you tell me," the monstrous snake hissed. Then, gnashing its teeth together, it lunged at him.

The line of soldiers scattered as the snake lunged at the startled colonel. Roy was only barely able to leap out of its path before the place he'd just been standing disappeared between the serpent's jaws.

Roy scrambled to get his footing. He heard gunfire open on the monstrous beast but knew it wasn't going to do much good - the thing's skin was too thick for the bullets to pierce or at least make any significant damage. A thrill of horror went through him as the monster spit out the chunk of pavement and turned on him again with a snarl. Roy suddenly realized how vulnerable he was. Despite the gun holstered at his side he was completely helpless. The monster was unaffected by bullets, and his number one defense was currently unavailable - namely the use of his trademark flames.

He was suddenly disturbingly aware of the cold rain lashing his face and soaking his gloves. _You're useless in the rain._ Wasn't that what Hawkeye always used to tell him? If he didn't think of something soon, Roy Mustang, revered Flame Alchemist was going to be torn in half by a fifty foot giant snake.

"Where is he!" the serpent screamed. "Tell me where that little brat is!"

Roy said nothing, staring back at the serpent with dark defiant eyes. If this was how he was going to meet his end then he was going to meet it like a man: silent and on his feet. He'd already warmed Death's doorstep once after his fight with King Bradley. He was not afraid to cross that portal now.

The serpent seemed to realize it wasn't going to get any useful information out of the man, and gave a thunderous roar of fury. Snapping its teeth, it once again lunged at Roy.

Mustang didn't look away. He would meet Death with open eyes. He wondered what he would see after he died - who would come to greet him. Perhaps those he'd loved but lost to death over the year. His family? His old comrades? Maes? …Fullmetal?

Roy suddenly no longer felt any fear. It would be nice to see those people again, he thought. If death granted him the gift of seeing those people again, he could die quietly without complaint.

The monstrous snake seemed to bear down on him in slow motion, its gapping mouth ready to deliver the single, final blow. But just before its deadly teeth closed around him, the giant serpent suddenly reared back, roaring in pain as spikes of transmuted rock shot up out of the ground and into the underside of its jaw.

"Who are you calling a miniscule speck so tiny you have to ask other people where he is because he's too small to see with the naked eye!"

Roy froze, his entire body going stiff. That voice…

That voice! Could it be? Could it really be?

He slowly turned towards the voice, as did everyone else there - and felt his heart stop dead in the middle of his chest.

For standing there several dozen yards away against a backdrop of towering orange flames - his brilliant gold eyes flashing with irritation and long blond hair whipping around his face in the stormy, rain-laced wind - was none other than Edward Elric, State Certified Fullmetal Alchemist…

To Be Continued…

* * *

Any thoughts? I'm rather anxious (nervous, actually) to see how this latest development of Envy following Ed back through the Gate is going to go over… 

PLEASE REVIEW!

-LAXgirl


	5. Those Whom We Fight to Protect

(_Squeals and runs around in circles_) You guys are awesome. Last chapter was a new record for number of reviews. Thank you so much. Several people asked me questions however that I feel should be addressed to everyone:

1) There will be **_NO_** yaoi or romantic pairings of any kind in this story. Roy's interest in Ed is strictly paternal in an angsting sort of way. He sees Ed as a son and _nothing_ else.

2) The title of this story is taken from the name of the outermost river of Hell in Dante's book "the Inferno." Acheron is the river upon which the souls of the damned wait to be ferried across into Hell's main prefecture. It is also where the souls of those that sided with the Devil against God in the Rebellion of Angels and those that refused to take sides at all are forced to ceaselessly pursue an elusive white banner for all of eternity. These souls are neither in heaven or Hell; thus placeless. A more philosophical explanation for the title of the story will be explored more in later chapters, although I think most people are smart enough to pick up on the subtle allusions I'm trying to connect with Ed's Homunculus self.

Quick Note: After reading, please check out my profile to see a few illustrations I drew for this story. I was a big ball of burning creative energy the last few days and felt like sketching a few scenes out. Just know they're quick pencil sketches and nothing spectacular, but I felt like I should share them with everyone since I'd already drawn them.

**Chapter Five: Those Whom We Fight to Protect**

Roy stared in disbelief, certain that shock from his near-death experience was somehow making him hallucinate.

No… There was no way it could be who he thought it was. It was impossible! There was no way it could be him! He'd been fooled once when Al came to see him the day before. There had to be some kind of mistake. It just couldn't be him! Fullmetal was dead…

For a brief moment Roy wondered if his unexpected savior wasn't actually the soulless double of his dead subordinate. But then he noticed something. Something that made his heart clench and a wave of almost painful hope flood his body.

The boy's left pants leg was torn and ripped. Everything from the knee down was nothing but ribbons of tattered cloth. But under those ragged strips of cloth - shining in the dancing glow of firelight - Roy saw the gleam of polished steel.

Mustang felt the air leave his lungs like he'd just been punched by major Armstrong.

There was no way… There was just _no_ way it could be true. It was impossible!

But the artificial limb remained no matter how hard Roy tried to make the painful hallucination go away.

"You!" the serpent hissed, the stunned colonel now completely forgotten. "You brat, I'm going to kill you!"

"You keep saying that, but I'm still waiting for you to actually follow through on it," the boy replied, his gold eyes flashing in the firelight as if they shined with their own inner light. "You're even more pathetic than the last time I fought you. No wonder you could never find the old man and kill him."

"You _BASTARD!_" the snake roared, the very air shaking with its wrath. Roy swore he could feel the waves of hatred rolling off its body. "I'm going to kill you, you damn brat!" Then with no more warning, it lunged at the boy.

It was then that the last of Mustang's doubts about the boy's identity were finally put to rest.

For as the giant snake rushed towards him, the boy raised his hands and clapped them together, the sound echoing through the rubble-strewn streets like a tiny clap of thunder. He pressed one hand to his right forearm. And in an explosion of crackling blue light an eight inch metal blade suddenly appeared over the boy's right hand.

Roy watched in disbelief as the boy leapt aside to dodge the serpent's jaws, then spun to deliver a slash to the side of the monster's face. The snake roared in anger and whipped around to snap at him, but the boy had already leapt outside the serpent's reach. With a vicious howl, the snake lunged after him, its deadly teeth gnashing the air.

For a moment all Roy could do was stare. The boy and serpent were engaged in deadly combat: the boy evading the snake's teeth and tail while somehow simultaneously delivering his own attacks and transmuting giant spikes of rock up out of the ground into the serpent's underbelly. It was altogether unbelievable. Completely impossible! But no matter how much Roy's brain tried to tell him what he was seeing could not be real, he could not deny the fantastic scene playing out before his eyes.

It was only when another deafening roar sliced the air that Mustang was finally startled out of his trance and back to the present.

His initial shock fading into a lingering buzz of disbelief in the back of his head, Roy was finally able to take in the scene for what it really was - and felt a cold wave of dawning realization wash over him.

Despite Ed's dramatic entrance (there was no more denying it, it was Fullmetal!) and him goading the snake into attacking him, the boy was not as well as one might have originally thought. No longer stunned by the appearance of the presumed-dead alchemist, Roy would have had to been blind not to see there was something wrong with the temperamental prodigy.

Ed's attacks were shaky and hesitant - no where near the same level of intensity Roy remembered the boy fighting with all those years ago. He was fighting more on the defensive; and when he attacked it was with alchemy attacks, not hand to hand. The boy looked battered and worn, like he'd already fought one battle with the serpent and lost. He was also visibly favoring his right leg. Roy couldn't tell what was wrong with Ed's other leg, but he'd known the foulmouthed alchemist long enough to know that if Ed was showing any hint of weakness or pain, then there was something definitely wrong.

Roy felt his heart clench as the serpent suddenly made a vicious lunge at Ed and almost took the alchemist's head off before the boy managed to duck away in time. Sparing one last glance at the blond teenager, Roy spun away and hurried back towards the scattered line of soldiers - all of them watching the battle with stunned expressions.

"What are you waiting for?" Roy shouted, startling them out of their trance. "Reform the lines! Prepare to fire! First and second squads to the front, third and fourth to the flank!"

Soldiers scurried to obey his orders.

"Sir…"

Mustang turned and found Hawkeye suddenly by his side, a slightly dazed expression on her face. She seemed momentarily unable to form words. Then, hesitantly, as if afraid of Mustang's answer: "Is that really him?"

"Yes."

The normally stoic lieutenant's eyes widened even more, shocked disbelief blossoming across her face. Mustang couldn't say he blamed her. He was still having trouble believing it himself.

"But, sir, how can we attack if Edward's still fighting that creature? He'll be caught in the crossfire."

"Just get the men ready and wait for my signal," Roy said, refusing to meet the lieutenant's eyes.

Hawkeye seemed taken aback by the colonel's order, but obediently snapped her hand up into salute. "Yes, sir!" Then turning, she hurried back towards the soldiers, but not before casting Mustang one last unsure look.

Roy, meanwhile, had already turned back to the ongoing battle. He watched in growing anxiousness as the boy and serpent spun and met in a titanic clash of crackling blue alchemy light and teeth - the boy slowly being beaten onto the defensive more and more as the battle wore on.

He didn't know how Ed was there and alive. His mind was still reeling from shock from the boy's appearance. But it didn't really matter how Ed was alive. Because Roy knew if he didn't do something to help the boy soon Ed really would be dead, and this time killed right in front of his eyes. And he couldn't let that happen.

He wouldn't.

* * *

Ed's breathing was becoming labored as he scrambled over a pile of rubble to avoid Envy's jaws. The serpent gave a nasty hiss and lunged after him, almost taking his head off. Dropping to his knees just in time to escape a nasty death, Ed clapped his hands together and pressed them to the ground. Spikes of transmuted pavement shot out of the ground and impaled the shape-shifting Homunculus. The Sin roared in pain, but the attack did little to stop the angry monster. Transmuted rock did not kill or slow down an enraged Homunculus that easily. 

Ed didn't wait for Envy to free himself before he turned and took off running. He had to put more distance between himself and the Sin if he had any hope of surviving. He was in no condition to be fighting hand-to-hand. Despite repairing his leg - _again_ - after reaching the surface, his leg was still dangerously weak. His knee refused to properly bend and he could feel the casing wobble under his weight as he limped and scrambled over the broken landscape. Each step was utter agony for the young alchemist. Blood spotted the tattered remains of his pants just above his knee. His leg stump was bleeding from when Envy had grabbed his artificial limb and twisted it in his jaws, causing the metal casing to tear his skin. His leg was going to give out on him - and this time probably beyond his ability to fix - if he didn't find a way to end this fight soon.

He so tired. After escaping Envy and the underground city and then climbing all those steps on his broken throbbing leg, Ed was running on his last reserve of strength. Sweat soaked his skin, his hair clinging to the sides of his face in stringy, matted clumps. His entire body ached, but he forced himself to keep moving, to keep transmuting, to keep fighting. He had to stop Envy. He couldn't let the Homunculus destroy the city or kill any more people. It was his fault the Homunculus had been able to cross back over to this side of the Gate. He had to stop him. It was just a question of if he would be able to do it before his leg gave out or the giant serpent finally caught him between his jaws…

Rain lashed his face as he dodged Envy once again and spun on his heels to deliver a nasty cut to the side of the Homunculus' face.

"You bastard!" Envy screeched, and lashed out at him with his tail. Despite Ed's best attempts to dodge, the serpent's tail caught him full in the chest and sent him flying backwards several yards before he hit the ground - hard.

For a moment Ed just lay there, unable to move. He couldn't breath. A hazy ring of blackness tunneled his vision. He wasn't sure but it felt like Envy just broke several of his ribs. He was only distantly aware of said Homunculus weaving his way through the broken landscape of toppled buildings and crumbled masonry towards him.

"You little brat," the Sin's voice drifted to him over the driving hiss of rain. "I'm going to make sure you suffer before I tear you into little tiny pieces."

His vision blurring dangerously, Ed painfully began to push himself up. He held his chest with one arm, cradling his ribs. Despite his best attempts not to show his fatigue, he swayed slightly on his feet. As he stood to face the serpent, Envy's monstrous form slowly materialized out of the misty curtains of rain, his blood red eyes glowing eerily in the flickering light of fires burning in the distance.

"Ready to die, brat?" Envy hissed. "I'm going to enjoy ripping you limb from limb."

Ed glared at the giant serpent. "Just come and try it, bastard." He raised his right arm and held it in front of him so its metal blade flashed in the firelight. "I'll be sure to get your other eye this time."

Envy's lips curled into a snarl, exposing two rows of razor sharp teeth. With a vicious hiss the shape-shifting Homunculus reared up so he towered over Ed. Then with a deafening roar of promised death, he descended on the injured alchemist.

Ed only barely managed to leap away in time before the place he'd just been standing was crushed under a five ton serpent. He scrambled backwards, trying not to trip on the rubble littering the ground.

Envy whipped around, his teeth bared, ready to bite the alchemist in half. Using his metal arm, Ed parried the serpent's mouth away. One of Envy's teeth managed to graze his arm, however, and left a long gouge mark in its wake across the tempered steel.

Ed hurriedly backpedaled, trying to put more distance between himself and the enraged Homunculus. But as he scrambled backwards, his foot suddenly caught on a rock - the broken remains of a toppled building - and fell. Ed cried out as he landed on the rocky ground, jostling his possibly broken ribs.

Envy lunged at him, his mouth a gapping black abyss.

Unable to move or do anything else to defend himself, Ed clapped his hands together and slammed them to the ground. A wall of transmuted rock sprung up between him and the giant snake in a blinding flash of light. But that did little to stop Envy as the Sin crashed through the wall as if it was nothing more than a flimsy piece of paper. The wall crumbled, chunks of rock raining down on the fallen alchemist. As Ed watched in horror, the wall began to lean, tipping towards him almost as if in slow motion.

Shielding his head with both arms, Ed curled into a protective ball and shut his eyes. He could almost feel the thousands of pounds of rock bearing down on him. The roar of crumbling masonry filled his ears. And just before everything went black, Ed thought he heard the sound of muffled gunfire somewhere in the distance over the thundering crash of rock…

* * *

Mustang watched in horror as Ed stumbled over the broken landscape and fell to the ground. The serpent lunged at him, its deadly fangs ready to tear the boy in half. Roy saw a flash of crackling blue light and a towering wall of rock appear between Ed and the monster. But any relief he might have had at the sight was quickly dashed as he watched the serpent crash through the wall like a runaway fright train. Roy's heart clenched as the wall began to lean, and then stopped altogether as the wall crashed down on the young alchemist sitting at its base. Ed's battered form disappeared under an avalanche of rock and billowing dust. 

For a moment all Roy could do was stare, wondering if he'd just witnessed the actual death of the boy he'd just spent the last three years believing was dead.

A monstrous roar sliced the stormy air, startling Roy out of his thoughts. His one eye narrowing into a vengeful slit, Mustang stepped back towards the line of soldiers waiting for his command. He'd been waiting for a clear shot of the beast. And with Ed buried under a small mountain of debris, he no longer had to worry about Ed being caught in the line of fire. He was going to end this now.

"On my mark!" he shouted over the hiss of rain. "_FIRE!_"

A barrage of gunfire and heavy artillery opened on the monstrous snake from two sides - the third and fourth divisions having finally rejoined the rest of Mustang's forces.

The serpent roared in anger, its coiled body lashing the air as bullets rained down on it in a hellish storm of metal. For several moments the monster writhed and screeched. But just as Mustang thought they were about to take it down, a light began to shine around the serpent and it suddenly began to change. Its body began to shrink, its serpentine form morphing into something completely different. Arms and legs suddenly sprouted from its sides. And before Roy even knew what was happening, the monstrous snake disappeared and was replaced by a teenage boy with long, spikey dark hair. He stood in the middle of the devastated street, dressed in tight black clothes that exposed half his lanky, muscled body. At first Mustang didn't know what to make of the mysterious boy's appearance. But then he noticed something marring the boy's left thigh.

It was a tattoo. A tattoo of a winged serpent devouring its own tail…

"Keep firing!" Roy shouted, staring at the blood red mark in horror. He knew that mark. He knew what that thing really was. "Keep firing!"

A new round of gunfire opened on the boy. Even from a distance, Roy could see the bullets hit the inhuman being. But they seemed to have no effect on him. Instead, the Homunculus' face contorted into a scowl of rage as the bullets continued to pierce his body. He glared at the line of soldiers as if wanting to rip each and every one of them apart. But as the gunfire intensified and became concentrated on him, the Homunculus finally had to shield his face from the onslaught. Giving one last glare in Roy's direction, the Sin turned and took off in the opposite direction, disappearing into the devastated remains of the streets.

"After him!" Roy shouted, pointing after Homunculus. "Catch him!"

Several dozen soldiers took off after the Homunculus. Roy however did not wait to see if they actually caught him. Instead, he took off in the direction of the mountain of rubble the shape shifting Homunculus had just been standing on - the last place he'd seen Edward Elric before the unexplainably alive alchemist had been buried under a wall of crumbling rock…

* * *

Everything was dark. He could barely see. Only a faint sliver of grayish light shining between two rocks gave him any indication of where salvation might lay. Ed struggled to move. He was pressed in from all sides, trapped in a tiny pocket of space barely larger than a narrow crawlspace. Despite his utter loathing to admit it, his stunted size had once again saved him. Somehow when the wall had collapsed, it had fallen at an angle so that it'd created a small pocket of space between the wall and its shattered base. Ed had managed to escape being crushed by curling into a ball and huddling near the collapsing wall. But now, trapped in on almost all sides by immovable rock, Ed struggled to free himself. 

Squirming and clawing his way through the rocky debris, Ed weakly inched his way towards the narrow slip of light. His whole body ached. He was so tired and sore. He was almost tempted to just lay there and let someone else find him. But he had to get out. If he gave up now and let himself slip into darkness there was no assurance he would ever escape this lightless tomb. Al was waiting for him somewhere. He couldn't die now. He wanted to at least see his brother one time. Plus he didn't know if Envy was still nearby causing damage. If nothing else, he had to get out so he could stop Envy.

Ed's ribs screamed in protest with every inch the injured alchemist forced his battered body to crawl. Rocks and bits of stone scratched his hands and face. Dust clogged his lungs. His left leg was almost completely useless now. But he forced himself to go on. He had to get out. He had to stop Envy.

He finally reached the area of rocks where the sliver of light shined through. Ed could hear the faint whisper of rain and smell the smoke of distant fires through it. Maneuvering himself in the narrow passage so both hands were above his head, Ed pushed against the nearest rock. At first it didn't move. Pushing more effort into his tired muscles, Ed felt the boulder move several centimeters under his hands. Pushing harder it moved a few inches. Ed heard the other rocks around it shift. Then with one final shove the boulder finally tumbled forward, causing a small avalanche of rock to follow. Fresh air rushed into the tunnel, a rainy breeze buffeting Ed's dirt-smeared face.

Forcing himself to start moving again, Ed squeezed his body out the narrow opening and emerged into the rainy air. His hands shook as he pulled himself completely free of the debris. He sat there a moment to gather his strength before slowly, carefully easing himself down the pile of rain-slicked rubble. The base of his artificial leg throbbed fiercely, making him reluctant to put any weight on it. When he finally reached the bottom, he leaned against the pile of rock, struggling to catch his breath.

His whole body hurt. He was so tired. All he wanted to do was sleep. But he knew he couldn't. Not when Envy was still running around causing havoc.

But as the young alchemist looked around to take stalk of his surroundings he suddenly realized the shape shifter was no where to be seen. Nor could he hear anything to suggest the giant serpent was anywhere nearby.

Ed suddenly caught the sound of running feet. Glancing up he saw a small group of uniformed men hurrying towards him. For a moment Ed thought they were just soldiers from the military division he'd distracted Envy from. But then he recognized the dark haired man leading the group, and shakily pushed himself to his feet to meet them.

Roy Mustang - followed by Riza Hawkeye and the rest of what Ed had always referred to as 'the Central gang' - slowly came to a stop several yards in front of him. The group of soldiers stood in perfect silence, staring at him with dazed expressions Ed couldn't quite place. Stunned disbelief perhaps, but Ed wasn't about to venture a guess.

For a long moment of silence Ed just stared back at them, not quite sure what to say. What exactly did one say to someone he hadn't seen in more than three years?

He felt their eyes boring into him, staring at him as if they didn't quite believe it was him. He was uncomfortably aware of Mustang's gaze in particular. The colonel was staring at him with one dark eye - his other unexplainably hidden behind an eye patch that spanned half the side of his face. (Just what happened those three years he was gone?) Mustang's expression was for the most part blank, offering no insight into the colonel's inner thoughts.

Starting to grow impatient with the lengthening silence and soldiers' unnerving stares, Ed finally ventured a greeting, glancing at Mustang with an offhanded scowl.

"That eye patch really doesn't suit you, bastard. Did you think it would make you more popular with the ladies or something?"

Mustang visibly stiffened, his one eye widening as if in disbelief.

Ed felt a niggling of unease form in the pit of his stomach. What was wrong with them? They were acting like he'd come back from the dead or something. And what was wrong with the colonel? He was acting so strange. Normally, he would have shot back with some suave comment about his age or height by now - purposely trying to goad him into a fight. But instead Mustang just stood there, staring at him with his one eye as if he was seeing some kind of ghost.

Surely three years hadn't changed him that much that they no longer recognized him, did it? Had they possibly forgotten him?

Somehow that thought left him a little bit cold inside.

But just as Ed was about to offer his name to jump start their memory the colonel suddenly gave a shaky laugh, his one good eye growing suspiciously damp. He began to move towards Ed. And before Ed even knew what was going on, he suddenly found himself crushed against his arch nemesis and commanding officer's chest.

"Fullmetal…" Mustang said with a shaky chuckle as if he still couldn't believe it was him. "It's really you…"

Ed stood there stunned as Mustang quickly released him and held him at arm's length, looking him up and down. Before he knew it the others in Mustang's outfit were all crowding around him, touching him, asking him questions and talking at once.

"Where have you been?"

"Is that really you, Ed?"

"Boss, you had all of us worried. What's the deal?"

Ed tried to find the voice to speak, but everyone was talking so fast and asking so many questions he couldn't find the strength to answer. He was still dazed by the colonel's welcome. Just what the hell was _wrong _with everyone? He had expected a little bit of a homecoming, yes, but not quite _this._

"Colonel," Hawkeye said somewhere behind the excited swarm of soldiers surrounding Ed. "You might want to let Edward sit down. He looks injured."

Before Ed knew it, he was being pushed backwards onto a large rock to sit. A sudden hush fell over the group as they all stood around him, staring at him with stunned expressions.

"How is this possible?" Fuery said, his eyes almost as big as his glasses as he stared at Ed's battered form. "Where have you been all this time?"

Everyone stared at Ed, the same question written in each of their own expectant stares.

"The other side of the Gate," Ed replied, running a tired hand over his dirt-smeared face. "A place called Germany. The Gate decided it was going to be a major bastard when I offered myself in return for Al's body. It sent me there as Equivalent Exchange. I only now was able to find a way back across. Unfortunately that thing I was just fighting somehow followed me across as well."

The group of soldiers stared at him, their eyes darkening with some emotion Ed couldn't quite place.

"So that's why the transmutation didn't work…" Havoc murmured, his trademark cigarette hanging from his mouth at a precariously low angle. "Ed wasn't really dead…"

Ed's head shot up, his eyes narrowing. "What transmutation? What are you talking about?"

Several of them exchanged uncomfortable looks, but none of them actually answered.

Ed stared at them, a dark feeling of unease forming in the pit of his stomach. He might have demanded answers again - this time a bit more forcefully - but just then he happened to notice another figure standing outside the ring of soldiers several yards away. Through the misty curtains of rain Ed saw that the person was young, barely out of his early teens. Long blonde hair hung around the boy's face, framing a set of pale grey eyes that seemed to stare into his very soul.

Ed felt his breath hitch. He suddenly no longer felt tired or cared about the group of soldiers around him. All he could do was stare in disbelief at the boy staring back at him - staring at him with those hauntingly familiar eyes…

Not even conscious of his own actions, Ed scrambled to his feet and took several shaky steps towards the other boy, staring at him as if afraid the boy might suddenly disappear if he blinked.

"Al…"

His brother's name slipped from his mouth like a whisper, hope trembling his shaky voice.

Ed felt a warm feeling of disbelief the likes of which he'd never felt before flood his body. It was Al! He had his real body! He was whole again! The Gate had returned him to his original body! His sacrifice had worked! Al was no longer a suit of armor!

"Al… You got your body back…" he whispered. "It worked…"

Ed felt tears sting the corners of his eyes. Shakily, he reached out for Al, wanting nothing more than to hold his little brother close and know he was truly and honestly alive - that he'd successfully returned his little brother to his body.

But Al didn't rush into his waiting arms like he expected him to. Instead the boy just stood there, stock still, staring at Ed with wide, tear-filled eyes - almost as if he was afraid of him.

"Al?"

Ed heard the note of confused pleading in his own voice. Why wouldn't his brother come to him? Didn't he know how much he'd missed him? Didn't he know how much he'd dreamed of this moment? Didn't he know how hard he'd tried to find a way back home?

Al stared at him, his pale grey eyes swimming with tears. His lower lip began to tremble. A single tear flashed down his cheek.

And then, with a shuddering cry, Al suddenly launched himself into his brother's outstretched arms, knocking the older alchemist backwards onto the ground.

Ed gave a shaky laugh as he hugged his little brother close, fighting back his own tears as Al clung to him, crying hysterically into his chest. Al sat on the rainy ground between Ed's legs, desperately clutching his older brother.

"It's alright, Al. It's okay…" Ed chuckled, returning his brother's almost frantic embrace. How long had he dreamed of this moment - to once again be able to hold his little brother in his arms? "I missed you too. It's alright, Al... I'm home."

But Al was crying too hard to answer. In fact his cries seemed to intensify, the younger alchemist now wailing into Ed's chest as if his last little bit of sanity had been torn from him at the sight of his older brother.

Ed felt the first faint touch of worry brush across his heart.

"Al? Al, what's wrong?" Ed said, gently pushing back the mop of rain-soaked bangs from his brother's face. But Al didn't answer. He just buried his face deeper into Ed's chest and gave another shuddering wail, his grip on Ed tightening even more.

Ed looked on in growing unease. What was wrong? What he had first taken as overwhelming joy on his brother's part was something else, he slowly began to realize - something deeper and much more disturbing.

"Al? What is it? What's wrong? You're scaring me," Ed said, anxiously hugging his little brother close.

But Al still refused to answer.

Holding Al closer, Ed desperately looked up at the ring of soldiers, his eyes pleading for answers. But none of Mustang's group offered an explanation, their own expressions shadowed and dark.

Confused and frightened, Ed could do nothing more than rock his little brother back and forth in his arms, desperately begging Al to tell him what was wrong. But Al just continued to wail into his chest, his heart-wrenching sobs echoing into the chilly, rain-laced air…

* * *

Rage consumed Envy as he weaved in and out of the devastated streets he himself had destroyed. Red tainted the Homunculus' vision. His teeth were bared in an ugly snarl. His entire body was tense, almost shaking with anger. Behind him he heard soldiers following in close pursuit, but he could barely care. All he could do was think about the one that had escaped his wrath - the embodiment of everything he loathed and hated in this world. 

That brat… That little brat had gotten away. He had stolen his chances of ever getting revenge on Hohenheim and then escaped his own death with that bastard colonel's help! If that man hadn't been there he would have finally been able to rip that metal-toting runt apart. He had even been forced to return to his normal form because of all the gunfire. If those soldiers hadn't shown up when they did, the brat would have been as good as dead if not already laying in tiny little shreds.

"Stop! Halt!" a voice yelled.

Envy glared over his shoulder. Behind him, half a dozen soldiers were following in close pursuit.

"Halt or we'll shoot!"

Envy scowled. Pitiful humans… They had no idea who they were dealing with. Ducking into a narrow side street, the Homunculus ignored the spray of bullets that tore up the ground only several inches in back of him. He spun around the corner and pressed himself against the wall. Several seconds later the first soldier appeared, intent on chasing the fleeing Homunculus down the street.

Unfortunately, he was unaware the shape-shifter was no longer playing the part of prey.

In a violent spray of blood, the soldier fell gurgling to the ground, his throat now a gapping hole. The other soldiers leapt back, staring in horror as Envy slowly emerged from the alleyway and stood over the dead soldier - his arm transmuted into a deadly, blood-smeared spike. A wicked grin twisted the Homunculus's face as he eyed each of the remaining soldiers, his eyes gleaming with an almost demonic bloodlust.

A new round of gunfire opened on him, the soldiers shooting point blank from only several feet away. But the Homunculus just stood there, grinning his psychotic grin as bullets tore through his body as if they were nothing at all.

"Are you done?" he asked when the soldiers finally relinquished fire. As the soldiers watched in horror, the round of bullets slowly reappeared across the Homunculus' body, squeezing out of his skin out like metallic beads of sweat. Hundreds of bullets fell to Envy's feet in a tiny shower of metal.

One soldier screamed and tried to run. But before he could get even a half a dozen feet, Envy was on him. A gurgled scream echoed through the rainy street before he fell to the ground in a watery spray of blood.

Another round of bullets opened on Envy as the Homunculus turned back towards the other soldiers with a wicked, blood-thirsty grin. Gunfire echoed through the empty streets. But as the heavens continued to bath the city in torrents of chilly rain, the gunfire slowly faded until there was nothing but the gentle hiss of rain to fill the silence.

Envy stood in the middle of the blood-spattered street, bodies littering the ground around him. Blood dripped from the end of his transmuted arm, mingling with the rivulets of rain running down his body.

He stared at the soldiers' crumbled bodies, an intense wave of hatred welling up inside him. These humans… these pitiful creatures were so weak. They didn't deserve to live. He was going to make sure each and every one of them met a similar end to the ones laying in bloody heaps at his feet. Especially _him_… that Fullmetal brat. He was going to make that brat pay for what he'd done…

The sound of hurried footsteps startled Envy out of his vengeful thoughts. Glancing over his shoulder he saw another group of soldiers coming towards him, all of them carrying guns.

With a dark snort, Envy turned and took off, disappearing into the devastated remains of the city. Although he knew he could have taken the soldiers on easily enough, he had no desire to be shot at anymore that day. Even though bullets had little to no effect on him, they still hurt. His eye especially still hurt from when the brat had stabbed him. Although he'd healed the wound and restored his sight with his regenerative powers, it still stung.

A nasty growl rumbled in Envy's throat. He was going to _kill_ that brat…

As the Homunculus made his way through the devastated landscape, he finally emerged into the unharmed section of the city. Soldiers were everywhere. Many were trying to keep people away from the area while others were shouting to clear the debris and alert firefighting units. Before anyone could notice him, Envy transformed into an anonymous soldier and slipped into the crowd. No one even looked twice at him.

As Envy broke away from the crowd and slipped down an empty side street he let a scowl twist his transformed face. He would bide his time to get revenge on the brat. There were too many people around to attack the kid now, especially if the brat had rejoined his military unit. He would wait. And when the brat was alone…

A wicked grin spread across Envy's face.

"Hey! You there! What are you doing?" a voice suddenly shouted.

Envy paused and glanced down the length of a side street he had just been about to pass. A uniformed officer was standing there, along with several dozen other soldiers. Many of them were covered in bloody makeshift bandages. Several others were being carried on stretchers. One of the men on the stretchers looked like he was missing a leg.

"Are you injured?" the officer called. "Emergency medical teams are having trouble reaching this area because of the roads. Whatever that thing was that attacked us destroyed all the major roadways in this area. There's a small military hospital nearby. If you're going there you can go with us."

Thinking fast, Envy surreptitiously transformed his one arm so that it looked like he'd suffered some kind of injury to it. Holding his now bloody shoulder, the shape shifting Homunculus put on his best acting routine.

"Yes. That's where I was just heading. That monster just killed half my unit. I'm one of the only ones left."

The officer nodded distractedly. "That's the story with half the other soldiers here…" he murmured. Motioning to the other soldiers, the group began to move.

Envy quietly joined them, walking on the edge of injured soldiers. He inwardly gave an irritated huff. He didn't want to go with them to some stupid hospital, but he didn't want to draw anymore attention to himself by refusing assistance. He would just wait until he got the chance then quietly slip away.

Before long, the hospital came into sight. It was a squat, unattractive building that seemed to loom in the rainy darkness like a malevolent being. A feeling of death seemed to hang over it. Injured soldiers crowded the hospital's emergency room and front reception area. Doctors rushed back and forth amongst the crowd, trying to attend to the injured soldiers as they staggered or were carried in by their comrades on blood soaked stretchers. Moans and the muffled sounds of screamed echoed over the din of doctors, nurses, and injured soldiers.

Envy felt a strong sense of satisfaction steel over him. Good. He hoped they all died. He was just disappointed he hadn't finished them off before, or was able to do so now.

As a doctor and several nurses rushed forward to see to the new arrivals, Envy slipped away down another hallway. The halls were packed with injured soldiers, many of them sitting on the floor because of all the other people taking the seats and gurneys. He strode past them all with barely a second glance. He had to find another exit where he could leave without being seen.

Barely anyone took notice of the one soldier amongst the hundreds of others crowding the small emergency area.

The halls progressively became less populated as he wandered deeper into the building - most of the hospital's staff seeing to the flood of injured soldiers out front. His footsteps echoed noisily down the hallway. If he didn't know better he would have almost said this part of the hospital was deserted. Rooms lined the one side of the hall while a bank of windows spanned the other. A stormy sky spread overhead on the other side of the rain-lashed glass.

Envy was almost to the end of the hall when he suddenly heard footsteps coming towards him along with two voices talking in frantic, harried tones from an adjacent hallway.

"Contact the north and western clinics and request them to send as many doctors here as they can. We don't have enough staff to see to all the casualties ourselves. We're overwhelmed. Doctor Heins doesn't know if we have enough supplies to take care of them all."

"Can we send some of them to another hospital?"

"Most of the main roads were destroyed by whatever that thing the military was fighting. We don't have any way to transport them, and we're the closest medical facility to this section of the city."

The voices were quickly getting closer. Having no desire to be seen or questioned, Envy ducked into one of the empty hospital rooms. Just as he managed to close the door behind him he heard the two doctors hurry past in the direction of the front reception area.

For a moment Envy stood there, waiting to hear if anyone else came by. He didn't hear anything else beyond the door. Like a wave of shimmery light passing over his body, Envy transformed into his normal self.

He had his hand on the door and was almost ready to turn the handle to leave when he suddenly caught a soft, barely audible moan behind him. Spinning around, Envy saw that the room he'd originally assumed to be empty was in fact occupied. A single bed sat on the other side of the room, a small figure laying under its sheets.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Envy took a step towards it. Whoever it was was sleeping. The lack of movement and reaction to his entrance said as much. As he came up beside the bed and saw the face of its occupant, the Homunculus immediately froze, his eyes widening with surprise - then narrowing with an almost instantaneous wave of hatred.

Long blonde hair lay splayed across the pillow like waves of finely spun gold. Features Envy knew all too well stared up at him, mocking him with the presence of the one he hated more than anyone else with perhaps the exception of Hohenheim himself - the one who had escaped his wrath earlier, but now unexplainably lay here in this military hospital asleep.

It was _him_! The brat! The tiny little pipsqueak the military had for whatever reason seen fit to allow become a State Certified Alchemist.

Hatred so intense that it almost hurt surged up inside Envy, coloring his vision red. A murderous snarl twisted the shape-shifter's face as his eyes filled with an almost insane look of hatred. In a brilliant flash of light, the Homunculus transformed his arm into a pointed spike. In two long strides he was at the boy's bedside, his arm pulled back over his shoulder in the deadly parody of a punch.

He was going to kill the brat! He was going to run him through and enjoy the agonized look of pain in the boy's eyes as he sprang awake and choked for his final breath of air.

But just as he was about to deliver the final, fatal blow to his enemy's heart he suddenly noticed something. Something that made Envy freeze and the red tainting his vision to disappear just as quickly as it had come.

The boy's right arm... Not only did the boy have a natural flesh one, but marring his upper shoulder was a blood red tattoo. A tattoo of a winged serpent devouring its own tail.

Envy's murderous glare slowly morphed into a look of almost comical shock. His arm fell back to his side, unconsciously transforming back into its natural form. For a moment, all the Homunculus could do was just stand there, staring at the familiar brand.

This… this was impossible. This boy… he wasn't the Fullmetal brat. He was nothing but a soulless look alike - the result of an unsuccessful human transmutation.

A Homunculus…

Envy stood there in a daze staring at the boy as if someone had just hit him over the head.

A tiny moan sounded in the back of the boy's throat, his eyelids weakly fluttering. He feverishly rolled his head to the side, sweat beading across his brow. Despite him still being partially unconscious, it was obvious the boy was in a great deal of pain - his eyebrows knotted together in the center of his forehead. His breathing was labored, his skin flushed.

Weakly, the boy's eyes drifted opened, glazed with fever. For a moment he seemed too sick to even know where he was. But then, blinking hauntingly familiar gold eyes into focus, he stared up at the Homunculus standing beside his bed. The boy's eyes were blank, devoid of any recognition.

"Did they send you to kill me?" the boy weakly rasped, his voice barely even audible. "The colonel couldn't do it himself…"

For a moment, Envy just stood there, staring at the Homunculus of his arch nemisis in a stunned daze. How was this possible? How was there a Homunculus of the brat? Who would have tried to resurrect him? Had they thought the brat was dead and tried to bring him back through human transmutation? But then why was the boy here alone with no one else watching him?

Whatever the case - despite all the questions and utter shock swirling Envy's mind - the boy's question had not gone unnoticed; nor his passive, almost hopeful inquiry if he was going to be killed. An idea slowly began to form in the back of the Envy's mind and he suddenly knew what he had to do.

Shaking himself out of his daze, Envy leaned over the boy's bed, a tiny grin pulling at his lips.

"I'm not going to kill you, kid," he grinned as he gently slipped an arm under the boy's arms and legs and lifted the other Homunculus into his arms. The boy was too weak and gone with fever to fight him. "I'm your new best friend…"

Then bundling the feverish boy to him, Envy turned and slipped out of the room, disappearing down the hall and out into the stormy night…

To Be Continued…

* * *

I don't care what anyone thinks, after going through all that emotional torture I think Roy would have hugged Ed when he saw him! Hopefully that part didn't seem too OOC… 

Anyway, please review! I know the chapter was long, but please leave me something. Your feedback makes writing this all worthwhile.

PLEASE REVIEW!

…and don't forget to check out the illustrations in my profile!


	6. Those Whom We Deny

Thanks for the feedback. Sorry for the delay, but life's been hectic and unforgiving here on the home front. But here, anyway, at long last, is the much anticipated continuation. (I've actually been looking forward to writing the last part of this chapter since I started this story.)

Chapter Six: Those Whom We Deny

The car was quiet. The only thing to break the silence was the rhythmic _thump thump_ of the windshield wipers and continuous drum of rain on the roof. Ed stared out the window, watching the rainy streets of Central roll by. It was so strange. The last time he'd seen Central was more than three years ago, yet it felt like only yesterday. Everything looked exactly the same - like the last three years hadn't even happened. Yet Ed knew they had. It was impossible for him to pretend he hadn't been trapped on the other side of the Gate, or been separated from everything he knew and loved for so long. The sights and sounds of Central - so familiar and unchanged despite his many years of absence - somehow made his homecoming so much more surreal, even more so than the strange behavior of all those around him.

In front of him in the front seat, Hawkeye skillfully maneuvered the car through the streets. Although the lieutenant remained stoic with her eyes carefully set forward, Ed swore he felt her staring at him. Whenever they came to an intersection or sign, he'd see out of the corner of his eyes hers flick up to stare at him through the rearview mirror. But before he could look to catch her in the act, Hawkeye would once again be staring forward, watching the road as if she'd never taken her eyes off it in the first place.

In the back seat Al sat close beside him, leaning against his older brother's side. Ed welcomed the closeness. After so many years of separation and the harrowing series of events leading to his return, all he wanted to do was hold Al close and be reassured that the boy beside him was truly and honestly his little brother returned to human flesh. His automail arm was draped over Al's shoulder, holding the younger alchemist close. Al seemed to welcome the contact himself. He leaned into Ed's embrace, silently hugging his older brother back. It was almost like he was still trying to make himself believe Ed was truly there.

Ed was starting to worry about Al. Since meeting him on the battlefield and having the younger boy rush into his arms - crying and tackling him to the ground with an almost desperate hug - Al hadn't said one word. Ed had managed to calm Al down after several minutes, but before he'd been able to coax any kind of explanation out of his younger brother, the colonel had stepped in and suggested getting Ed to a hospital to see to his injuries. Always the stubborn one, Ed had point blankly refused. He wanted answers to Al's and everyone else's behavior. And bedsides, he'd suffered much worst injuries before and didn't need anyone (least of all Mustang) babying him.

Unfortunately, that seemed to be exactly what the colonel had taken it upon himself to do. Before Ed had been able to put up much of a protest - especially with him still trying to calm his sobbing brother - Mustang had ushered both of them to his private car and ordered Hawkeye to drive them to Central Headquarters.

Said colonel was currently sitting beside Hawkeye in the front seat. Unlike the female sharpshooter, Mustang didn't seem to care if Ed caught him looking over his shoulder every couple of minutes to stare at him. It was like he was checking to make sure Ed was still there - as if afraid he might suddenly disappear.

Ed was starting to get anxious. Something was wrong. He could smell it. The way everyone was acting around him - as if afraid he might not actually be who he was - and the way they refused to answer any of his questions practically screamed there was something they weren't telling him. And he didn't like it. He didn't like not knowing what was going on, especially when it was something that'd almost made his brother have a nervous breakdown. He might have been gone the last three years, but he'd lived the first fifteen years of his life with Al almost constantly by his side, and knew there had to be something truly wrong to bring his brother to such hysterics.

There was something they weren't tell him.

The looming white building of Central Headquarters slowly materialized out of the driving curtains of rain. Ed was suddenly nervous. He didn't know if he was ready for this. When he woke up that morning, he wasn't expecting to finally find a way back across the Gate and see everyone he used to know. He especially hadn't been prepared to deal with everyone's reaction to him - as if he'd somehow come back from the dead. Al's reaction to him still left a lingering feeling of unease in his stomach.

Hawkeye slowly brought the car to a stop in front of the military building. Without waiting for Hawkeye to turn off the car, Mustang got out and came around to Ed's side. He opened the door and took Ed by the elbow. Ed felt Al momentarily hug him tighter before reluctantly letting him go. With the colonel's help, Ed stepped out of the car and shakily stood. Despite his previous reassurances he was fine and didn't need any kind of medical attention, there was no denying the base of his left leg was a throbbing mess or that his ribs burned with pain every time he took a breath. He was tired and sore, and although he would go to his grave denying it, he was almost glad Mustang was there to lean on. Standing now he wondered if he would have been able to walk to the colonel's office by himself with his leg and automail mangled the way it was.

Hawkeye stepped forward and held an open umbrella above his and the colonel's heads. Al quickly appeared and before Ed knew it, his younger brother had pulled his arm over his shoulder, steadying Ed between himself and Mustang.

Before Ed could protest his somewhat embarrassing position, the two of them were leading him into the building, Hawkeye trailing half a step behind with the umbrella. They quickly made their way through the building to Mustang's office. As they went in, Mustang released his hold on Ed and pointed him towards two couches facing each other in the middle of the room. Ed carefully limped his way towards one of them with Al's help and sat down, wearily letting his head hang down his chest. Al took a seat close beside him. Ed heard Mustang moving around the room somewhere beyond the curtain of rain soaked bangs obscuring his vision, but didn't look up to see what he was doing. He was too tired to move or really care. It was only when he heard Mustang step up in front of him that he finally shook himself out of his daze.

"Sit up straight," Mustang ordered.

Ed leaned back, involuntarily wincing as his ribs gave a painful twinge. "You really don't give anyone a break from the order giving, do you? I just got back from the other side of the Gate and fought off a fifty foot giant snake - not to mention having to dig myself out from under a mountain of rock! - and you're already giving me orders. I'm really too tired to deal with your ego-centric bullshit right now."

Despite Ed's smart talk and crude choice of words, a small smile tugged at Mustang's lips. "It's nice to see three years hasn't changed your wonderful personality," he replied. "You're still the same foulmouthed brat I remember."

Ed scowled at the colonel, but it was rather weak in intensity. He was just too tired to put much effort into it. And besides, no matter how much Mustang might annoy him at times, it was strangely comforting to fall into their usual exchange of barbs and insults.

"Now stop being a brat and sit straight," Mustang again ordered, effectively ruining any sense of fondness Ed might have had for him right then. "I want to see your ribs."

"I'm fine," Ed scowled. "I told you before, I don't need any medical attention."

Mustang, however, had known Ed long enough not to be fooled.

"Stop playing tough. I saw you get hit in the chest besides almost getting buried alive. You're purposely not breathing normal. I can tell your ribs are hurting you. Now if you don't want me to physically drag you to some hospital I suggest you stop stalling and take off your shirt. You might have several broken ribs and I don't want you bleeding all over my couch."

Ed again scowled - this time with a little bit more intensity - but obediently followed the colonel's orders and removed his dirty, rain-soaked shirt. Violent purple bruises covered the upper half of the alchemist's chest. Ed hissed between his teeth as Mustang gently but firmly began probing his ribs, feeling for breaks.

"It doesn't feel like any are actually broken," Mustang finally said after several minutes. "They just look heavily bruised. I would suggest wrapping them for support though."

As if anticipating the colonel's needs, Hawkeye appeared beside him and handed him a narrow roll of cloth - the thing Mustang had been rooting around in his desk for earlier. Mustang took the cloth with a nod of thanks and began winding it around the other alchemist's chest.

As Mustang went about tending his subordinate's injuries, Ed took the time to glance at his little brother. Al was sitting close beside him, his dark blonde hair hanging in dripping tangles around his face. He looked haggard and drained - as if he'd just survived the worst day of his life. Ed tried to catch his brother's eyes, but the other boy seemed too lost in thought to notice. He was staring at Ed's automail arm, as if entranced by it's metallic joints and scuffed plating. Al's eyes were unfocused and distant like he was actually staring at something a thousand miles away. Ed once again felt a niggling of worry. Al was acting strange. But before he could comment on it, Mustang once again commanded his attention.

Carefully, the colonel pushed the tattered edges of what had once been Ed's left pants leg up. He frowned at the torn and bleeding flesh he found underneath at the base of Ed's artificial leg. "You should see a doctor," he said, his one eye darkening with some emotion Ed couldn't quite place as he took a damp cloth from Hawkeye and pressed it to the bleeding stump. "This could get infected." He gently dabbed at the drying blood. "What happened? It looks like someone took a dull knife to you. Did this happen from crossing through the Gate?"

"No," Ed sighed, wincing as Mustang touched a particularly painful cut. "I got this while trying to get away from Envy."

"Envy?" Hawkeye said.

"Yeah. A Homunculus," Ed replied, his expression dark. "He was that giant snake I was fighting. He's a shape shifter and can change into anything or anyone he wants. He was one of the seven Homunculi that were chasing Al and I when we were still looking for the Philosopher's Stone. He crossed through the Gate and ended up stranded on the other side like me. Unfortunately, because of reasons I don't think I'll ever fully understand, we both ended up in the same place and came back through the Gate together. He basically blames me for everything bad that's ever happened to him, and has recently made it his mission in life to kill me." Ed sighed and wearily leaned his head back against the couch. "I have to admit, he came pretty close there a couple of times…" His head suddenly shot back up and he speared Mustang with a worried look. "What happened to him? I didn't see where he went after I got buried."

"We drove him off," Mustang replied, still occupying himself with cleaning Ed's wounds. "I had several of my men follow him."

"Did you catch him? Did he get away?" Ed demanded, now leaning forward in his seat. "What happened to him?"

Mustang refused to meet his eyes. "I don't know."

Ed glared at Mustang, his gold eyes flashing. "You let him get away?" he cried, frustration tainting his voice. "How could you let a psychopathic murderer get away like that? Who knows what he might do! No wonder you haven't weaseled your way to Fuehrer yet!"

Mustang continued to dab at Ed's torn flesh, his one good eye distant and unreadable. "I didn't follow him myself because I was more worried if you were dead or not."

Ed paused, his irritation disappearing like a cloud of smoke. "Oh…" he murmured. Slightly embarrassed by the colonel's open sincerity, the blonde alchemist leaned back in his seat and sat in silence as Mustang finished cleaning the base of his leg, then went about wrapping it in another roll of medical gauze.

Finished with the worst of Ed's injuries, Mustang glanced at the younger alchemist's mangled automail. "I assume you've already tried to fix this with alchemy," he said.

Ed gave him an offhanded nod. "I fixed it enough so I can walk, but it's still twisted out of shape. I could probably fix it more, but I'm just too tired right now. It's going to take a lot of concentration to properly fix it and repair the internal wiring."

Mustang nodded. "I see. Then you should wait until you're fully rested, or go see an automail specialist. My area of specialty in alchemy is not metal. I would probably only make it worst if I tried."

"I can do it," Al suddenly spoke up.

Both Mustang and Ed looked up at him in surprise - having almost forgotten the younger alchemist was still there.

Ignoring both of them, Al scooted closer towards his brother. Before Ed could ask what his brother was planning to do, Al clapped his hands together and pressed them to Ed's leg. Brilliant blue light encased his artificial limb. When the light finally receded, Ed looked down to find his leg once again whole. He experimentally flexed his knee and wiggled his metal toes. His automail responded nicely to his commands, although its movements were still a little bit rough. But it was nothing a little bit of oil couldn't fix.

"It probably isn't as good as what you could have done," Al said, his voice timid as if nervous to see if it met his brother's approval "If it's not good enough at least it can last you until you're well enough to fix it yourself."

Ed looked back up from his leg to his little brother, slightly stunned. Only he had ever learned to transmute automail to keep it working long enough for him to get to Winry's for repairs. The limbs' different kinds of metal made transmutation difficult, and the internal wiring was something he could fix only a portion of the time himself. When had Al learned to do that?

"It's fine, Al," he assured him. "You did a good job. It works perfect now."

Al's face lit with satisfaction at his older brother's praise, but Ed saw something - like a dark shadow - still haunting the other boy's eyes.

"When did you learn to transmute automail?" he asked, still curious about his brother's unforeseen ability. "It took me years to learn how."

Like a door slamming shut, Al's expression closed and his tentative smile disappeared. He stared at Ed for a long moment of silence, his eyes growing haunted.

"I only remembered a little while ago…" he whispered, suddenly refusing to meet his brother's gaze. "I remembered how you used to do it when I remembered everything else…"

"'Everything else?'" Ed said. "What do you mean when you remembered everything else? Did something happen?"

Al's eyes suddenly filled with tears, his lower lip quivering. His expression grew distant, as if remembering something too horrible to speak of.

"Al, what's wrong?" Ed asked, desperately trying to understand what was going on. "What happened?"

But before the younger alchemist could say, a knock suddenly sounded at the colonel's door. It opened, revealing Havoc, Fulman, Breda, and Fuery standing in the doorway. All of them were soaked with rain and look like they'd followed Mustang to Headquarters directly from the battleground.

"Yes?" Mustang asked.

"Cleanup crews and fire units have been dispatched to all devastated parts of the city," Fulman replied with a salute, then stepped into the office. The other three soldiers followed him. "Emergency relief teams are currently searching the wreckage for civilians casualties. Several dozen soldiers have already been reported dead. All injured have been taken to the Central's eastern military hospital, but the hospital is too small to see to all of them. They're trying to bring more doctors in or relocate some of the less critically wounded to other civilian hospitals, but because of the damage caused by the monster many of the roadways have been blocked."

Mustang gave a weary sigh. "Very well. See that all reserve soldiers are assigned to help clear the roads. Also dispatch all available military vehicles to the eastern hospital to help with relocating the injured."

"Yessir!" the four saluted.

It was then that Mustang suddenly seemed to realize something. "Lieutenant Havoc," he said, his voice suddenly stern. "Did I not assign you to stand watch at the hospital?"

"You did, sir," Havoc said, snapping to attention. "But Al and I heard fighting and came to investigate. There wasn't any sound from inside the room when we left; it seemed to be unconscious. I assumed it was safe to investigate the disturbance."

Mustang looked displeased. "I want that thing guarded. I don't want it out of sight."

"Yessir. I'm sorry, sir," Havoc said. "I'll return immediately."

"Do that," Mustang said. "And take someone else with you. I want two guards on that thing from now on."

Havoc nodded and snapped his hand into another salute.

Ed, meanwhile, watched the entire exchange in confused silence, still conscious of his little brother beside him. "Why were you at a hospital with Havoc?" he asked, worriedly looking at his brother. "Were you hurt or something?"

Al shook his head - his eyes still damp with whatever was bothering him - but didn't offer any kind of explanation.

Finally unable to take anymore, Ed glared at the others filling the room. "What the hell is going on!" he demanded, anger rising in his voice. Everyone's strange reaction to him, his brother's distress, the colonel hovering over him like a mother hen, and all these secretive comments were starting to worry him. Something was going on - something big. And he knew it had something to do with him.

"Why won't anyone tell me what's going on?" he demanded, sweeping his eyes over everyone there. He turned back to his little brother. "Al, what's wrong? Why were you at the hospital? Why are you here in Central at all? Why aren't you in Risembul?"

As if unable to hold his anguish or painful secret in any longer, Al's face crumbled, a single tear flashing down his cheek. "Everyone thought you were dead," he sobbed, staring at Ed with watery grey eyes. "I came to Central because after you got my body back I lost all my memories of when my soul was attached to that suit of armor. I wanted to talk to colonel Mustang to see if he could help me remember anything.

"While I was leaving I met Shou Tucker. He kidnapped me because he wanted to resurrect Nina. He wanted me to help him bring back you so you could make another Philosopher's Stone for him…"

A sob hitched Al's voice, but he forced himself to keep going. "He wanted to bring you back through human transmutation. We tried to stop him, but we didn't get there in time. Tucker was using the basement of Laboratory Five and had this big array with all the elements he needed to make a human being. He had these tanks of Red Water to use for Equivalent Exchange, and-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Ed cut him off, his face turning a ghostly shade of white as realization began to sink in. "Are you trying to tell me Tucker did a human transmutation?"

Al nodded miserably.

Ed stared at Al for a long moment of silence. Then, hesitantly, "Are you saying he created a Homunculus… of me?"

Another nod from his brother.

Ed sat there in a daze, trying to come to terms with everything he'd just heard. His mind reeled in horrified shock. Someone had tried to resurrect him? And created a Homunculus instead? How could that happen? He stared at Al, trying to make himself believe his brother's frightening tale.

Al gave another teary sob. "He looked exactly like you, Brother," he sobbed, his face twisting with remembered anguish. With no warning he launched himself into his brother's arms just like he had earlier on the battlefield. He clutched Ed desperately as if afraid to let him go. "He even talked like he was you," he cried, burying his face in his brother's chest. "I couldn't stand it. We all thought you were dead, and all I could think about was how much he looked like you. And then when I saw you fighting Envy I thought it might be him. I just didn't know what to think… I wanted it to be you so badly, but I just didn't know… I…" But Al couldn't finish his sentence. The strain and anxiety of the last two days, plus the shock of his brother's unexpected return, had finally become too much for him to hold in any longer. With a shuddery cry he clutched Ed tighter, almost as if still trying to convince himself his brother was really there. His muffled sobs echoed through the room.

Ed silently held his brother close, lost in a daze. No matter how hard he tried he just couldn't seem to make himself believe it. Tucker had made a Homunculus of him - a soulless double. He had a Homunculus. One of those soulless creatures he and Al had spent more than two years fighting…

Looking up at Mustang and the other soldiers watching him with shadowed expressions from the other side of the room, Ed pinned the colonel with a steel-hard look of resolve.

"I want to see it," he said.

* * *

The halls of the eastern military hospital were filled with injured soldiers. Many lay on gurneys while others sat on the floor. There was hardly any room for two people to walk side by side down the hall. Nurses scurried back and forth, struggling to see to all of the wounded. The smell of blood choked the air while the sounds of distant screams created a horrific soundtrack to the other cries and moans of injured men. 

Ed tried to ignore the hellish sights around him as he followed Mustang through the crowded halls. They moved quickly, Ed's long red coat snapping behind him as he moved. Al had lent it to him. His shirt had been too dirty and torn to put on again, and with nothing but the cloth wrapping his ribs he needed something against the rain and chill.

His brother followed close behind him as did Hawkeye, Havoc and the rest of the colonel's group. Al seemed glued to his brother's side, unwilling to let him go any farther away from him than arms reach.

They moved swiftly through the halls until the hoards of injured soldiers began to thin and the halls became more quiet. The chaos of the emergency room slowly gave way to empty halls of patient rooms. Rain drummed loudly against the windows as the small group of soldiers and two boys made their way towards one room in particular. Their squeaky footsteps echoed loudly on the tiled floor down the corridor.

Mustang finally stopped in front of one of the rooms and turned to Ed. His face was blank of all emotion, but his one good eye was dark and filled with some emotion so complex and deep Ed was taken aback by its intensity.

"This is it," Mustang said.

Ed glanced at his brother. Al stood close beside him. His eyes were haunted as he stared at the door. Almost subconsciously he moved closer to Ed, seeking reassurance his real brother was there beside him.

"Stay here, Al," Ed said. He could almost smell his brother's reluctance to go inside - his fear…

Al gave an almost imperceptible nod, then stepped back.

For a moment Ed was almost jealous of his brother. He didn't know if he was ready to do this - to see his soulless double. It seemed so surreal that he could have a Homunculus, so horrifying impossible. A part of him didn't want to go inside. He didn't want to come face to face with the boy that was in almost every sense himself, but know it was nothing but a soulless creature made by forbidden alchemy. He didn't want to go inside, but he had to know. He had to see for himself the product of Shou Tucker's transmutation. Only then would he be able to come to terms with the truth of what'd happened…

Looking back at Mustang, Ed motioned for him to lead with way. Mustang slowly opened the door and stepped inside. Ed followed him. He told himself he was ready to do this, that he was prepared to meet his Homunculus self. Al and the rest of the soldiers stayed behind, waiting outside the door.

The room was dark except for a single lamp glowing on the other side of the room. Ed and Mustang paused as they came inside to let their eyes adjust. Taking a deep breath, Ed looked towards the bed standing in a small pool of light. He froze at the sight. He slowly turned towards the colonel whose own expression was blank of all definable emotions.

Confused, Ed asked the only thing he could think of.

"Where is it?"

* * *

The underground necropolis beneath Central was a vast labyrinth of dilapidated buildings and streets. One could get lost in the subterranean maze if they didn't know the layout of the buried city. Only several in recent years had rediscovered the city's forgotten secrets and used it as their hidden base. All but one of them were dead now, but the one that still remained had not forgotten the city's safe havens and secret spots. 

And it was to one of these spots that Envy had brought his Homunculus charge…

The boy lay on the remains of a narrow bed, its mattress dirty and threadbare from three years of disuse. His breathing was ragged and labored. His skin was flushed a reddish hue. Tendrils of bright gold hair stuck to the sides of his face, plastered there by the sticky sweat soaking his brow. Fever burned his entire body. If any normal human being had been suffering such a fever, they would have been dead long ago.

But the soulless incarnation of Edward Elric was no ordinary being, and could do nothing to escape his torment but roll his head to the side and groan in fevered pain.

"They tried to turn you too fast," a voice said from the other side of the room. "That's why you're in so much pain." Envy slowly appeared out of the shadows and sat on the edge of Ed's bed. He carried a bowl of water and damp cloth in his hand. "I bet they fed you a bunch of Philosopher's Stones or some kind of equivalent to them all at once, didn't they?" he said, squeezing out the rag and mopping it across the other's face. The blond gave no answer, too gone with fever to even properly focus on the other Homunculus. That hardly seemed to faze Envy though as he continued sponging Ed's face with distracted care.

"They should have done it gradually," he said, his voice dripping with contempt. "They obviously didn't care if they put you in any pain. If it was me or another Homunculus there, we could have helped turn you with a lot less pain. But humans don't care if they hurt us or not. They don't care about us at all. That's why we have to stick together. Humans want to do nothing but cause us pain…"

Ed cracked open fever-glazed eyes and stared at Envy, barely strong enough to keep them open. Although the boy seemed barely conscious Envy knew Ed could hear him and understand what he was saying. It was one of the few advantages of being a Homunculus. Even sick and half dead with fever, they still somehow managed to function.

"It's lucky I found you," he went on. "Who knows what they would have done to you if I hadn't saved you."

Envy spoke softly, careful to keep his voice low. He hated being this gentle towards anyone - friend, foe, fellow Homunculus or otherwise- but he wanted to gain the other's trust. This boy just might prove valuable. Who would have ever thought someone was stupid enough to try and resurrect the brat. It once again proved just how stupid humans were and deserved to be destroyed.

Envy grinned inwardly. If he could somehow turn this boy against the brat and everyone else the little alchemist knew, he would gain an invaluable tool in someday getting his revenge. With a little manipulation, this boy could become his greatest weapon.

"I'm surprised they didn't just kill you," he said, still occupying himself with cooling the other's forehead. "Most humans that see a newly born Homunculus immediately try to kill us. Lust once told me the man that'd created her tried to kill her once he saw what he'd made." Envy's face suddenly grew dark, his lips twisting into a murderous snarl. "These people… these alchemists that create us… They try to play god and when we don't come out the way they want us to, they try to kill us." He angrily dunked the cloth back into the water and wrung it out with a vicious twist. "If you ask me it should be us that kill them. They have no right to make us and then decide we have no right to live. If I could I'd kill each and every one of them right now. Especially that bastard son of Hohenheim… "

Ed lay in a fevered daze as the dark-haired boy growled and twisted the cloth he'd been cooling his forehead with between his fists. Ed felt slightly lost. He felt like he should know who this person was or what he was talking about, but for the life in him he just couldn't seem to make his mind work. His head felt fuzzy, like it was filled with cottony fog.

Images faded in and out of his feverish mind, but they were blurry and made no sense to him. There were images of a towering suit of armor, a dark haired man in military dress with alchemy-printed gloves, a woman with dreadlocks whose image sent an unexplainable stab of fear through him, a man with an X-shaped scar on his forehead, a woman with two foot long razor-sharp fingernails, and… a teenage boy with long dark hair who could transform into anything he wished…

The same boy that was sitting beside him on the bed.

The same boy Ed remembered fighting in an abandoned opera house.

The same boy he remembered stabbing him through the chest with a deadly transformed spike.

It was then that the fog clouding Ed's mind suddenly seemed to clear, and he remembered just who it was sitting there beside him…

With a startle gasp Ed scrambled away from Envy. "Get away from me!" he cried, weakly struggling against the sheets tangling his legs. "I remember you! You tried to kill me!"

Envy gave an irritated huff and calmly reached out and grabbed the panicked boy by the arm. With hardly any effort he pulled Ed back towards him and pushed the blonde back onto the bed. Folding the cloth he'd been wringing out in half, he slapped it onto Ed's forehead. "Calm down," he snarled. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Calmly getting up, the dark haired Sin dropped into a chair sitting close beside Ed's bed. Leaning back in his seat, Envy casually propped his feet up on the bed, looking at Ed with bland disinterest. "Apparently you didn't hear me before. We have to stick together. You're the same as I am. I'm not going to hurt you."

Ed stared at the dark haired Sin, not quite sure what to think.

"No. I remember you," he rasped, weakly shaking his head. "You tried to kill me. I remember you stabbing me and then me crossing through the Gate. I remember-"

"Those aren't your memories," Envy said. "They're the brat's. You only have them because whoever made you gave something in exchange for them."

Ed stared at Envy, confused.

"But-"

"Those aren't your memories," Envy repeated, his tone starting to become irritated. "Don't you know what that tattoo on your arm is?"

Ed rolled his head to the side and stared at the tattoo marring his upper right arm - his arm which was no longer automail, but rather living flesh and blood. As he stared at the blood red mark he slowly began to remember something from the disjointed stream of images clouding his fevered mind. He remembered being in the hospital and seeing Al. His brother had unexplainably had his real body. For some reason Al wouldn't come to him when he reached out to hug him. He kept moving away from him - like he was afraid. It was because of this tattoo his brother wouldn't come near him. Because of what it meant.

Because it meant he was a Homunculus…

Ed felt tears sting the corners of his eyes. "No…" he moaned in horrified anguish. He shook his head in helpless denial. "I thought that was just a nightmare…"

Envy slyly grinned. "That thing's no nightmare. That tattoo says you're just like me - a Homunculus."

"I'm not like you!" Ed cried, angrily shaking his head. The rag slid from his forehead and tumbled to the pillow. He weakly tried to sit up, but found himself too weak to even lift his head. "You're nothing but a soulless murderer! I remember what you are!"

"And you don't think people won't automatically assume you are too?" Envy shot back, now leaning towards the other boy. "It doesn't matter who you look like or what you do, people will never accept you for what you are. They'll always hate you. They will never see you as anything but a monster. If I hadn't found you who knows what they would have done to you. They turned you, then left you there to suffer. If they weren't planning to kill you, they were probably going to send you to some government research lab."

"No… Stop it," Ed begged, shutting his eyes against the other Homunculus' painful words. "It's not true. They wouldn't do that to me…"

Envy leaned closer, his eyes shining with a predatory gleam. "When I found you didn't you say that colonel tried to kill you? Didn't you ask me if they'd sent me to kill you?"

Ed shook his head, desperately trying to deny the truth. Tears beaded along his clenched eyelashes. "No… He wouldn't do that," he sobbed, shaking his head in denial. "The colonel would never do that."

"But he did, didn't he?" Envy pressed, grinning in malicious triumph. "What about your brother? How did he react to you?"

"Stop it!" Ed cried, weakly covering his ears to block out Envy's voice. "My brother loves me! He'd never abandon me!"

"Your brother doesn't love you. He's not even your real brother," Envy said. "He doesn't see you as anything but a monster. You just look like his brother. He doesn't care about you. Why else would he have left you alone in a hospital like that? With the brat back, he won't care a lick about you. He'll probably even ask the colonel to kill you now that he has his real brother back. That's why we have to stick together. No one else cares about you but me."

Ed's face crumpled, twisting in pain. "No… It's not true…" he sobbed, turning his face away from Envy and curling onto his side. His helpless sobs muffled into the pillow as his shoulders shook with uncontained anguish. "My bother loves me," he sobbed, still shaking his head in denial. "The colonel would never hurt me…"

But Envy could tell even the boy didn't fully believe his own words.

Envy grinned. This was almost too easy. It would be fun to see those foolish humans' faces when the brat's Homunculus came back, seeking revenge for his mistreatment - and all because of Envy's gentle manipulation.

"Al doesn't love you," he insisted, leaning towards the other Homunculus. "And that colonel _would_ hurt you. He and anyone else would kill you in a heartbeat if they ever saw you again. Al left you there in that hospital alone and in pain. Would he ever do that to his real brother?"

"Stop it," Ed hissed between his teeth, his back still to Envy. "It's not true. They wouldn't do that to me…"

"But they did. And they would. Admit it, kid. I'm the only one you can trust."

"Stop it!" Ed screamed, his hands clenching into fists. The lamp lighting the room suddenly flickered, almost sputtering out of existence. Envy looked up in surprise. "They don't hate me!" Ed shouted, oblivious to the sudden surge of energy filling the room. Envy felt his skin prickle from the unrestrained swell power. The very air seemed to vibrate. "Al loves me! He's my brother! He'd never leave me! We've been together for as long as we've been alive!" Tears streamed down Ed's face as he screamed into the pillow, his whole body shaking with unfocused wrath.

"You're wrong! The colonel would never try to kill me! He's a bastard, but he's always tried to help me. He would never try to kill me!"

Envy looked around, frightened. The window panes were shaking in their runners, vibrating as if caught in the middle of some terrible storm. An unexplainable wind whipped through the room, tugging at his hair. Despite himself, Envy found himself scared of the raw power swirling around the sickly Homunculus on the bed. It was almost like Ed had become the center of some terrible storm.

Another sob tore itself from Ed's throat. "They wouldn't do that to me…" he sobbed, almost to himself. "They wouldn't leave me… They don't hate me!"

And just before the powerful surge of energy surrounding Ed came to a head and the lamp on the table suddenly exploded - throwing the room into utter darkness - Envy heard the windows on the other side of the room explode in a shower of flying glass.

To Be Continued…

* * *

I can't decide if I should give Homunculus-Ed a Sin name or not. Part of me wants to, but another part is reluctant. Any thoughts? If I were to give him a Sin name what would it be? Wrath? Pride? Something else? I can't decide… 

PLEASE REVIEW!

(feedback is most appreciated_ sheepish, hopeful grin_)


	7. Those Whom We Hurt

Thank you so much for all the wonderful feedback. Suggestions were all over the board for Homunculus Ed's name, but I think I've figured out something that will (hopefully) satisfy most everyone in that department. But that won't come up for another few chapters...

Anyway, feedback for the last chapter was so amazing, I busted my butt to get a new update out.(See what happens when you keep your fanfic writers happy?)

Chapter Seven: Those Whom We Hurt

Envy casually leaned against the wall - his one foot crossed over the other at the ankle- as he tossed a small rock up and down in his hand. He was standing outside the building he had claimed as his and his fellow Homunculus' safe house. The underground necropolis was deathly silent, reaffirming the fact that he and his companion were the only ones there.

Envy tossed the rock he was holding up in front of him and deftly snatched it out of the air again. He was starting to get bored. The brat was inside, unconscious. He'd been asleep for several hours now. Envy suspected it was early-morning, but because they were underground couldn't say for sure. Ever since his temper tantrum, the pipsqueak's double had been passed out from fever and exhaustion. Envy was actually surprised the kid had been awake at all. He still remembered when he'd been turned - even under Dante's care and over the course of several weeks - how painful it'd been. As much as he hated to admit it, he was grudgingly impressed with the squirt's double. He was stronger than what he'd originally thought.

Envy scowled. He didn't know what to make of this newest Homunculus. There was something about the boy that made him uneasy. If the brat's display of power earlier was any indication, he was no ordinary Homunculus. (The memory of that unrestrained storm of power still sent a chill racing down Envy's spine. Just what was that he'd seen?) If he wasn't careful, he might lose his hold over the brat. It was going to take more to turn him against Hohenheim's son and the brat's brother than he originally thought.

The muffled sound of movement suddenly caught Envy's attention.

Looking up in surprise, he saw the battered figure of Edward Elric slowly appear in the doorway of the house. The boy was limping, obviously still in a lot of pain. He looked half dead on his feet, like he was fighting just to stay upright. Sweat covered his entire face, plastering his hair to the sides of his face. He was dressed in black pants and tank top - stolen by Envy when he'd spirited the boy away to the underground city. Ed leaned heavily against the doorframe, panting for breath. He swayed dangerously on his feet as if he were about to collapse, but somehow managed to stay standing.

How he was there and not still laying half dead in bed was beyond Envy's comprehension. The brat's Homunculus was either stronger or more stubborn than he'd ever thought.

"What are you doing up, pipsqueak?" Envy said, staring at the boy with bland disinterest. He made no move to help him. Instead he just stood there, tossing the rock up and down in his hand. "You're still not fully recovered. Go back to bed before you collapse and I have to carry your sorry ass back up there myself."

Ed took a moment to catch his breath, weakly leaning against the doorjamb. "I have to see Al," he rasped, forcing himself to stand and step away from the house. He swayed on his feet, but forced himself to keep moving. "You're wrong about him. He wouldn't abandon me like that… I have to see my brother…"

Envy snorted. "Give it up, kid. He's not your brother. There's no way he's ever going to accept you. You're nothing but a monster to him. The brat's back now, so Al would probably kill you the first chance he got, not to mention that colonel friend of his..."

"Shut up," Ed snarled, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. "You're wrong about them. They wouldn't do that to me… I have to go back and see them… You can't stop me." He weakly glared at Envy, as if daring the dark haired Sin to try and keep him there.

Envy gave an irritated sigh, starting to get annoyed with the boy's stubborn denial. "I'm not going to stop you, brat. I can tell you're not going to believe me until you see for yourself they don't care about you."

"You're wrong…" Ed hissed, weakly limping past Envy towards the far end of the city. "I know they care for me… I'll show you…"

Envy just shook his head, tossing the stone up in the air and catching it again. "Whatever…" he sniffed. "Just come find me whenever you're done. I'll be here." He suddenly seemed to think of something and grinned. "You know, the two of us will make a great team. It'll be just like the old days when it was me, Lust, and Gluttony. Think of all the destruction we can cause together. We'll be unstoppable…" Another psychotic grin twisted his face.

"You make me sick…" Ed hissed, doggedly limping past the other Homunculus. "I'll never be like you. You're nothing but a lying murderer."

"Lying is subjective to what one perceives to be the truth," Envy shot back.

"I'm going to tell them where you are," Ed snarled, still walking away. "And I'll be with them when they come to finish you off once and for all, you murdering bastard."

Envy gave another unconcerned snort. "Just remember who saved you from that hospital and took care of you when no one else would," he called after him. "Keep asking yourself if any of those humans would have done that for you. They didn't even bother putting a damp cloth on your forehead when you were half dead with fever. What kind of friend or brother would do that?"

"Shut up!" Ed yelled over his shoulder. "You're wrong! I'm not going to listen to any more of your lies!" He continued to angrily limp away, ignoring the waves of pain every step caused his still-healing, fevered body. "I'll show you! My brother didn't abandon me!"

Envy just shrugged indifferently, not about to waste any more effort arguing. The boy would find out on his own soon enough.

As Ed slowly limped out of sight towards the derelict edge of the city, Envy once more tossed the rock he was holding up in front of him and caught it. "Stupid brat…" he sniffed. "You'll see… And when you do, we'll finally be able to have some fun…"

A gleeful look of anticipation entered Envy's eyes. And as he tossed and caught the stone one last time, an evil grin spread across his face…

* * *

"There's no sign of it anywhere?" Mustang demanded, tossing the report he'd just received back onto his desk. His face was dark, his one good eye boring into his subordinates. 

Havoc shifted nervously. "No. I'm sorry, sir. We searched the entire hospital top to bottom and found absolutely no trace of the creature."

Mustang stood from behind his desk and began to pace the side of the room. Havoc, Breda, Fulman, and Fuery all watched him with barely disguised dread. It was obvious the colonel was not happy. His displeasure was written in every step his took. Hawkeye, meanwhile, stood on the other side of the room near the door, as silent and stoic as ever. Al sat quietly on one of the couches in the middle of the room, watching the scene unfold.

"No one saw _anything_?" Mustang demanded, turning back towards his subordinates. "How could that thing have just gotten up and walked out of a crowded hospital without anyone seeing it?"

"The eastern military hospital was the closest one to that part of the city that was attacked," Fuery hesitantly spoke up. "It was where all the wounded were taken. The doctors and nurses were struggling to treat all the soldiers, and were congregated in the emergency area of the building. Not many others were watching the rest of the hospital."

"We did receive one report though from a nurse saying she saw a dark haired boy carrying someone out of the hospital sometime late last evening," Fulman spoke up. "She was unable to give us a facial description, but she said he was oddly dressed in tight black clothes. She also said he had very long hair."

"That would be Envy," a voice suddenly said from the other side of the room.

Everyone turned to find Edward standing in the doorway of the colonel's office. For a moment, all they could do was stare.

Earlier that morning - after having spent the night in Central Headquarters on the colonel's couch - Ed had demanded access to Mustang's private shower. He'd been too exhausted the night before to bother getting a shower or changing out of his tattered, foreign looking clothes; and promptly fallen asleep not long after they'd returned to Headquarters. Not that Mustang or anyone else really held that against him. After his dramatic return and battle with a fifty foot snake, none of them probably would have cared if he'd fallen asleep on the colonel's desk. Many of them were still reeling in ecstatic disbelief that he could actually still be alive.

But now - clean and showered with his hair braided back the way they'd always remembered him wearing it, and dressed in clothes borrowed from his younger brother with Al's red coat thrown over it - the truth of matter truly began to sink in.

Not only was Edward Elric alive and well, but he was _there_. He'd survived all odds and crossed back through the Gate home. Even after three years of being believed dead, the young alchemist still looked exactly the same. His eyes were perhaps a bit more shadowed from the passage of years and whatever hardships he'd endured over that time, and he was perhaps an inch or two taller; but he was still the same Edward Elric they knew and remembered. Dressed the way he was now - in black and red - it was almost possible to pretend the last three years hadn't happened and the foulmouthed prodigy had never gone missing.

But there were some things that could not be forgotten or pretend never happened. And one of those was the missing creature that'd been made to replace the boy standing before them.

"Envy?" Fuery said. "You mean that thing you were fighting before?"

Ed nodded and came to sit beside his brother on the couch. "He's a shape-shifting Homunculus. He can sneak in almost anywhere by disguising himself as someone else."

"But why would this other Homunculus kidnap Ed's double?" Breda said. "Ed said he came back through the Gate with him, so how did he know the kid's double was there or even existed?"

"He might have come across him by accident and decided to take him," Hawkeye said. "He could have easily disguised himself as an injured soldier and slipped away from pursuers into the hospital. That would explain why we couldn't find him after the attack."

"Maybe," Mustang murmured, his expression still dark. "But we don't know if that creature went with Envy unwillingly or not." He began to pace quicker, his agitation almost tangible. "Whatever the case, we have to find it. We can't just let it go, especially if it's with this other Homunculus. Who knows what it might do…"

"Sir," Havoc said, stepping forward. "I take full responsibility for the creature's disappearance. I shouldn't have left my post. I accept any punishment you deem fit for my digression."

Mustang abruptly stopped pacing and sighed, wearily massaging the pinch of skin between his eyes. The cloud of anger surrounding him suddenly seemed to dissipate. His expression became haggard and etched with exhaustion. Unlike Ed, he'd spent the entire night trying to sort out the mess caused by Envy's attack, and then trying to locate his subordinate's soulless double. "I'm not going to punish you, Lieutenant," he sighed. "I would suggest following orders more closely from now on though."

Havoc seemed surprised by the colonel leniency, but more than happily accepted it. "Yes, sir!" he said, snapping off a sharp salute. "I won't let you down again."

"See that you don't, Havoc," Mustang said, and wearily sat back down behind his desk.

"What are we going to do about Brother's… double?" Al tentatively spoke up. "He could be anywhere by now. Especially if Envy took him."

Mustang stared at the mess of papers littering his desk for a long moment of silent, his one good eye distant with troubled thought. "We have to find it," he finally said after a laden pause, "and put it down."

A small cry of outrage met his pronouncement.

"That thing can't be allowed to live," he said, firmly shaking his head. "It's an abomination to all humanity. It's nothing but a soulless creature. It's dangerous, especially if it's already joined another Homunculus. I haven't forgotten the problems these things caused us before. Just look what one of them did to an entire section of the city! We cannot let it reach its full potential and cause any more destruction like that one did yesterday. For the safety of this city and all those in it, I have to order its immediate destruction."

Murmurs rose from the other soldiers there. Breda, Fulman, and Fuery all stared at the colonel as if unable to believe what they'd just heard come out of his mouth. Fuery looked sickened, horrified by the Flame Alchemist's decision. Fulman just stared at Mustang, his expression too closed to read the warrant officer's true feeling. Breda however was openly outraged, as if Mustang had just declared a shoot-to-kill order for the real Edward Elric.

"Colonel, you can't be serious!" he exclaimed, his cheeks flushing with rage. "You can't just arbitrarily kill the boy. He hasn't even done anything yet!"

"That is precisely why I'm ordering this, Lieutenant," Mustang calmly replied, his one eye boring into Breda. "I don't want that thing gaining power then deciding it wants to follow in its predecessors' footsteps. This is merely a preventive measure to make sure no one else dies by Homunculus hands."

Breda bit back a retort, his round face darkening with dissent.

Beside him, Havoc said nothing. The lieutenant quietly chewed on the end of his unlit cigarette, as if silently agreeing with the colonel but choosing not to voice his own opinion. Behind them on the other side of the room, Hawkeye was stoically silent, though her dark red eyes stared at Mustang in quiet heartbreak. Sadly shaking her head, she glanced at the two brothers sitting beside each other on the couch.

Al seemed stunned, shocked speechless by the colonel's proposal. His pale grey eyes were filled with horror, yet at the same time retained a gleam of grim understanding. He glanced at his brother, searching the older alchemist's face.

Everyone else, one by one, slowly turned towards Ed too, curious as to what the Fullmetal Alchemist's own reaction would be.

Ed didn't say anything for a moment, his expression unreadable and distant. He silently stared at the floor, lost in thought. Slowly, he raised his head and met Mustang's gaze.

"I agree with the colonel," he finally said.

"Brother!" Al exclaimed. Al wasn't the only one to stare at the alchemist in shock.

"This new Homunculus can't be allowed to run loose, Al," Ed explained, his voice heavy but firm with decision. "Especially if he's joined Envy. Envy is a psychopathic murderer. If he's taken this Homunculus of me, who knows what he'll do to him. Envy might somehow turn him to his way of thinking, and if he does, he'll be too dangerous to let live. Don't you remember Wrath and how easily he was swayed over to their side? It's the same thing. I hate to kill a living thing - even a Homunculus - but this is for the better good. I don't want this double of me to become someone like Envy…"

Al stared at Ed, his eyes shiny with tears. His expression was a twisted confusion of uncertainty. He looked torn by indecision, heartsick by the terrible decision his brother was asking him to accept: that they kill the boy that in so many ways was Ed himself. He didn't know if he could do it. He didn't know if he was strong enough to agree. He'd spent so many hours before Ed's return wondering if he could one day maybe accept this soulless double, that he wondered if perhaps he hadn't already accepted the Homunculus in some small corner of his heart.

But Ed was right. If Envy had taken the boy and begun to brainwash him like he'd done with Wrath, he was too dangerous to be allowed to live. It was a terrible decision, but one he knew he had to make.

"Alright…" Al whispered, his voice breaking with emotion. "But make sure you do it quick. He shouldn't have to suffer…"

Ed solemnly nodded and looked back up at the colonel. "How do you plan to find him?" he asked.

Mustang steepled his fingers and stared at Ed with one dark eye. "You mentioned returning to an underground city beneath Central. It is probably safe to assume that Envy would have taken the boy there. If we can organize a squad soon enough, we might be able to flush the two of them out before the boy is able to pose a threat. That would also make capturing and disposing of it easier…"

The others silently listened as Mustang continued to outline his plan, unaware that outside the colonel's office another was also listening, his presence undetected because of the heavy drops of rain pounding at the windows…

* * *

Ed felt as if someone had just punched him in the gut. Rain beat at his back and shoulders like tiny needles of ice, but he hardly seemed to notice. Shock, hurt, and pain the likes of which he'd never felt before washed over him like a jug of ice water being poured over his head. All he could do was listen to the sound of Mustang and his little brother's voice echo through his ears. 

_We have to find it and put it down… It's nothing but a soulless creature… It can't be allowed to live… Alright… But make sure you do it quick… _

Ed felt tears sting the corners of his eyes. He swayed dizzily on the ledge above Mustang's office. Despite his earlier declarations and stubborn refusal to listen to Envy, a small sliver of doubt had nonetheless been planted in the young Homunculus' mind. Wanting to be sure before he made himself known, Ed had found a way up onto the roof of Central Headquarters undetected (a slow, difficult and painful feat considering his aching, fevered body), then followed the roofline until he'd happened to catch the sound of Mustang and crew's voices below.

What he heard them discussing though was something he thought he'd only hear in his worst fevered nightmares.

They wanted to put him down. Put him _down_! Mustang had talked about killing him like he was some kind of animal. And Al had agreed! How could he? He was his brother! How could he agree - let alone be party! - to a plot to find and kill him?

Ed felt sick. His stomach roiled with nausea. How could they do this to him? He hadn't done anything. Why did they want to kill him?

Choking back his tears, Ed shakily stood from the edge of the building. He couldn't stand to listen any more. He had to leave. His friends and brother wanted to kill him. He wasn't safe here anymore. He had to go.

Stumbling in a horrified daze, Ed turned and - like a ghost - slipped away into the driving sheets of rain.

* * *

Envy looked up and grinned as he watched the broken figure of Edward Elric slowly emerge from the oppressive gloom of the underground city and limp towards him. There were tears in the boy's eyes. His long blonde hair hung limply around his face in rain-soaked tangles. His expression was a twisted mess of shock, hurt, sickness, betrayal, and pain. He looked drained of strength, hardly able to stand on his own anymore. Envy didn't know if it was from his excursion to the surface or the shock of what he'd discovered when he got there. Whatever the case, the blond Homunculus had to steady himself on the decaying remains of buildings as he walked, obviously at the end of his physical limits. 

"Didn't go as well as you expected?" Envy laughed, standing straight from the wall he'd been leaning on. He walked towards the other Homunculus, chuckling softly under is breath. "I tried to tell you…"

A heartbreaking sob tore itself Ed's throat, his eyes filling with tears he'd been fighting to hold back since he'd left Central Headquarters. "They want to kill me…" he sobbed, leaning heavily against one of the buildings' crumbling facades. "Even Al… My own brother wants to kill me…"

Envy's face split into a maniacal, predatory grin. "I told you so, squirt. Humans are our enemies. They create us then try to kill us."

"How could they do this to me?" Ed murmured, talking more to himself than Envy. A single tear flashed down his cheek. "I haven't done anything to them. I haven't done anything at all. Why would they want to kill me?"

"Because they hate you," Envy said, leaning towards the other boy. "You're nothing but a monster to them - an inhuman creature. They'll never accept you for what you are."

"That's what the colonel called me: a soulless creature," Ed sobbed, closing his eyes against the pain. He leaned his head against the wall, fighting to keep all his hurt and pain inside. But such a thing was a losing battle. "Why would he call me that?" he demanded, angrily clenching his fists as another tear slipped down his face. "It's not fair! I haven't done anything to deserve this!"

"That's right, kid, you haven't," Envy agreed, moving in for the kill. "That's why we have to stick together. Those humans will never accept you. They'll hunt you down, hurt you, then kill you. And all because you're something they can never understand." He leaned towards Ed, his eyes gleaming with a predatory light. "I understand what you are," he whispered. "I know what it feels like to be hated…"

"Stop it," Ed hissed, shaking his head miserably.

"I know what it feels like to have the whole world out to get you, wanting you dead…"

"Stop it."

"And I know what it feels like to have no one else to trust but someone just like you…"

"I said STOP IT!"

Before Envy knew it, he suddenly found himself slammed up against the wall. Ed stood in front of him, pinning the taller Sin to the wall by the neck. His eyes were two pool of liquid fire, flashing dangerously in the gloomy light. An unexplainable wind had begun swirling around the blond Homunculus, like he'd just become the center of some demonic whirlwind. Envy felt the air around him crackle with energy.

Slowly, Ed leaned forward until he was mere inches from Envy's face. "I know what you're trying to do," he hissed, his gold eyes burning with some emotion Envy could not immediately place. "I know you're trying to turn me against them, but I'm not going to let you control me…"

Envy stared back at Ed, feeling as if the other Homunculus' eyes were somehow boring into the very center of his being where his soul would have been if he'd had such a thing. As he stared into Ed's eyes he suddenly realized what the unfamiliar look in them was. There was hurt, anger, and resentment there, yes - he'd seen them all before on the original brat - but there was something else in this soulless boy. Something much more frightening and disturbing. Something that spoke of broken bonds and a severance from everything that'd once made him him. Something that if not tempered could possibly turn murderous…

Despite himself, Envy was suddenly afraid of the angry boy in front of him.

"I understand what you're trying to do," Ed hissed, the wind whipping his bangs back and forth in front of his face, "but I have my own plans . I'm not going to just sit here and let them kill me like some kind of rabid dog. I'm going to hurt them like they've hurt me. If they hate me so much then I'm going to show them just how much the feeling's mutual…"

Without any warning, Ed suddenly released Envy. Coughing and spurting for breath, Envy slid down against the wall to the ground. Ed turned away from Envy, the wind still swirling around him like a mini cyclone. He paused for a moment and glanced back over his shoulder.

"Just one word of advice, Envy," he said, his eyes narrowing into slits. "Don't ever call me squirt or pipsqueak again. If you ever mention my height again I'll kill you. And it won't matter how many Red Stones you have in your gut, you won't be coming back after I'm done…"

And then he walked away.

Stunned and still gasping for breath, Envy sat in a daze as he watched the other Homunculus slowly walk away before finally being swallowed by the shadows of the underground necropolis…

To Be Continued…

* * *

I thought Homunculus Ed being turned against his friends and brother because of their own words and actions would have had much more of an effect on our lil blond Homunculus then if he'd just listened to Envy. Any thoughts? 

PLEASE REVIEW!

(remember how quickly I updated the last time I got such a wonderful response!)


	8. Those Whom We Meet Again

Thanks so much to everyone for the great response last chapter. It set a new record for reviews. Sorry it took so long to update, but I went through a small spell of apathetic writer's block. To those two or three that were wondering: yes, "Lying is subjective to what one perceives to be the truth" was all my line through and through. Glad people seemed to like it.

**Chapter Eight: Those Whom We Meet Again**

Ed walked quickly through the halls of Central Headquarters. His brother's borrowed coat snapped loudly in the air behind him as he moved. His stride was sharp and quick, agitation written in every step. He limped slightly - his left leg still sore from his fight with Envy the previous day. Every other step gave a heavy metallic clank, testifying to the artificial limb hidden beneath his clothes. Other soldiers in the hallway quickly got out of the alchemist's way. The teenager's entire body language practically screamed he was in no mood to deal with others.

"Brother! Brother, wait up!"

Ed glanced over his shoulder and forced himself to stop as his younger brother hurried to catch up.

"Brother, what's wrong?" Al asked as he came up beside Ed. "Why'd you leave the colonel's office like that?" He was panting. His eyes shined with worry. "Is something the matter?"

Ed sighed, staring at the floor in helpless frustration. He didn't immediately answer. It was like he was trying to put his own confused thoughts into order. "Are we doing the right thing, Al?" he finally murmured, slowly looking back up at his brother. His gold eyes were a confused jumble of emotions. "I mean, this Homunculus of me… do you think we're really doing the right thing going after him like this?"

Al stared at his brother, confused. "Brother, what are you saying? You said it yourself we can't take the chance of him being turned by Envy. He's too dangerous to be allowed to run loose."

"Yeah… I did say that…" Ed murmured. But inwardly he didn't know if he really believed that.

He once again stared at the floor, his mind filled with troubled thoughts. Despite what he'd said in Mustang's office, he wasn't sure if he actually agreed with the colonel. No matter what the boy they were hunting was or wasn't, Ed couldn't bring himself to decide how he really felt about him. He was still trying to come to grips with the fact that he could actually have a Homunculus. He felt like he was walking around in some kind of daze. The whole situation just didn't feel real - like it was all some kind of horrible dream.

A part of him wanted to blindly agree with Mustang - that this soulless boy had to be destroyed. He still remembered with vivid clarity Envy, Gluttony, Greed, and Wrath. He remembered how all of them in their own way had wanted nothing more than to kill, take, or destroy. Even Sloth - the incarnation of his own mother - had tried to kill him. From what he'd seen, all of them were nothing but soulless creatures bent on revenge.

But while part of Ed felt justified in his decision to back Mustang, another part of him was reluctant to commit to such a black and white view of Homunculi. He still remembered Lust and her persistent - if not hopeless - dream of someday regaining a soul. He still remembered the quiet longing in her eyes and the sad, fatalistic way she talked about her own existence. If that wasn't proof of Homunculus having feelings or some small shred of humanity, he didn't know what was.

But possibly the biggest thing weighing on Ed's mind was the knowledge that this newest Homunculus was basically himself. He felt torn and dazed by the conundrum. Could someone that was essentially him really become some heartless monster? This Homunculus was him in almost every sense of the word. Would _he_ ever let someone - let alone _Envy_ - warp him into some soulless killing machine? A part of him was offended that Mustang could ever believe such a thing was possible. It was like the colonel saying he believed Ed himself was capable of such a thing.

But while Ed felt indignant anger towards the colonel for his implied, indirect distrust, he was forced to remember Sloth and Wrath and how fast they'd been to turn against those that in all right's should have been their closest loved ones - Wrath against his mother, and Sloth against her sons. So was it really so far fetched to believe this Homunculus of him could become dangerous?

Ed sighed. He just didn't know… He felt so torn and confused he wasn't sure what to think anymore. When he'd crossed back through the Gate he hadn't been expecting to come home and find out someone had created a soulless clone of him. It was enough to give someone a headache. He swore if he ever saw Tucker again, he was going to give the ex-alchemist-turned-chimera a beating he would never forget…

"Brother, are you okay?" Al worriedly asked.

Ed shook himself out of his thoughts, suddenly realizing how quiet he'd become. "Yeah, I'm fine, Al," he murmured. "I just need some time to think…"

Al looked uncertain, but said nothing as Ed turned and began to walk away - his eyes sullenly turned towards the floor. Al hesitated only a moment before quickly falling into step behind him. Ed might've said he needed time to think, but Al had spent the last three years without his brother and wasn't about to let him out of sight just yet. Especially when it was so obvious something was bothering Ed.

The two brothers silently made their way through Central Headquarters. Al wasn't sure where his older brother was heading, but decided not to ask since Ed seemed to have enough on his mind without him pestering for answers.

Not saying anything about his younger brother's presence, Ed reached the front entrance hall of the building and began to head for the door. He wanted nothing more than to head right for the military dorms and lay down. He was still beaten and sore from his fight the day before and mentally exhausted from Mustang's proposed course of action against his Homunculus self. All he wanted to do was to lay down and temporarily forget all the stress and horrors that'd currently become his life.

But just as the young alchemist reached the door and was about to push it open, the door suddenly swung open and something tall and dark crashed into Ed. Stumbling backwards, Ed avoided falling only by the one that'd just run into him reaching out and catching him by the arm.

Steadying himself, Ed looked up with a snarl to yell at whoever almost knocked him down. But at the sight of his old alchemy teacher, Ed abruptly fell silent.

Izumi stared at her ex-student in surprise, her dark eyes widening with shock. For several minutes of stinging silence the two just stared at each other.

"Ed…?" Izumi finally whispered, her eyes filling with an almost frightened hope.

With absolutely no warning, Izumi lunged at Ed and grabbed him by the coat.

"Hey!" Ed yelled.

But Izumi ignored him. With almost violent intensity she ripped the collar of Ed's coat and shirt to the side, exposing the edge of his artificial arm beneath. For several moments she just stared at the metal plating, screws, rivets attached to Ed's scarred flesh. Tears suddenly filled her eyes, and with no more hesitation pulled Ed to her in a crushing embrace.

"Ed…" she whispered, hugging her student almost desperately close. "You're alive…"

Despite his sudden inability to breath, Ed managed to sputter a weak, "Sensei," in reply.

Izumi slowly released him and held him at arm's length. "How?" was all she could say as she searched Ed's face, almost as if afraid to believe it was really him. "Where have you been all this time?"

"The other side of the Gate," Ed replied, still a bit shaken by his normally stoic teacher's welcome. "I got stranded there after I gave myself in exchange for Al's body. I only just found a way back across."

Izumi nodded distractedly, too busy looking her student up and down to truly care how he'd gotten back - only that he had and was standing in front of her alive. "I heard about the attack yesterday," she said, her expression a jumbled mix of emotions. "I heard there was some kind of giant snake and that an alchemist was fighting it. By the description I thought it might have been Al, but then I wondered if it might be…" She suddenly trailed off, her eyes growing haunted. "I had to be sure…" she whispered.

"Did you think it might be my Homunculus?" Ed asked.

Izumi looked at Ed in surprise.

"I already know about him," he explained. "Al and the colonel told me what happened with Tucker."

Izumi looked down at the floor, suddenly unable to meet her student's gaze. "So you know…" She hesitantly looked back up at him. "Have you seen him yet?"

Ed shook his head. "No. When I went to see him he was gone. We think he was taken by Envy, another Homunculus. We don't know where he is." Ed hesitated a moment before tentatively asking something that had been weighting on his mind for some time now. "Sensei… does he really look like me?"

Izumi was silent a moment - her expression distant - before she softly replied, "Yes. He looks exactly like you…"

Ed nodded slowly. "I see…"

"What's the military planning to do to find him?" Izumi asked. "I'm sure the colonel will want him back."

Ed shook his head, his expression blank. "The colonel wants to find him, but he's afraid he might have become a threat since Envy took him."

Izumi's face darkened, as if she could sense where this was going. "And what does he plan to do when he finds him?" Her voice had suddenly become as hard as steel.

Ed didn't immediately answer, his face too distant to read. "The colonel wants to kill him. He says he's too dangerous to be left alive."

Izumi stared at Ed for a long moment of silence, her face slack with shock. But then, like a dark storm cloud brewing, her expression became dangerous. "He can't do that," she hissed. "That boy's done nothing. He's innocent."

"He's a Homunculus," Ed said. "He dangerous. We can't take any chances with him. If Envy's turned him-"

"That boy has your memories," Izumi shot back, her anger almost tangible. "He is basically yourself. Just because he doesn't have a soul doesn't mean he's automatically some heartless monster. He's a living being that's exactly like you. Killing him would be murder."

Ed inwardly winced. Izumi's words were hitting a little bit too close to home. Hadn't he been thinking those exact same things barely five minutes ago? But despite his own confused emotions, he couldn't help but remember Mustang's arguments for wanting the Homunculus dead.

"Sensei, the Homunculus that took mine is dangerous. He's a murderer. We can't take any risks of Envy turning him. When we find them, maybe I can convince the colonel to wait and see about my Homunculus, but we can't let him stay with Envy. It's too dangerous."

"I don't trust that colonel," Izumi snarled. "Military officers don't care about killing or taking innocent lives. All Mustang wants to do is make sure he closes this case with no loose ends. He would rather kill an innocent boy than have anyone else find out about what happened."

"Mustang's doing this because he wants to make sure no one else gets hurt," Ed said, starting to get exasperated. "I'll make sure Mustang doesn't hurt this Homunculus of me, but we can't let him stay with Envy."

"No. I don't trust him," Izumi said, shaking her head stubbornly. "I'm not going to agree to this. It's nothing but an excuse for murder."

"But what about Wrath?" Ed shot back, his own anger starting to boil up. "Envy got a hold of him and look what happened. He tried to kill you. And me! How can you say that won't happen again with my Homunculus? Wrath was the Homunculus of your own child and he turned against us, so why couldn't that happen again with mine?"

Just as the words left his mouth, Ed instantly regretted them. If there was one thing he'd learned about Izumi before he'd been trapped on the other side of the Gate, it was that almost any mention of her Homunculus child was strictly taboo.

Just as expected, Izumi froze, her entire body going stiff. She stared at Ed for a long moment of silence as if the younger alchemist had just slapped her across the face. Her eyes slowly filled with tears. Stepping towards Ed - her expression one of angry hurt - she raised her hand and promptly slapped him across the face.

"How could you?" she hissed as Ed held his reddened cheek and stared at her in shock. "After all you've been through you still haven't learned a thing…"

Then turning away from the stunned alchemist, Izumi angrily pushed through the doors and out into the driving rain.

"Sensei, wait!" Ed tried to call, but the only answer he got was the door slamming close behind her. Still stunned by their alchemy teacher's display, Ed and Al could do nothing more than silently stare after her.

* * *

The far east side of the underground necropolis echoed with Envy's footsteps and angry murmurs as the shape-shifting Sin stalked its empty streets. One dilapidated wall even met its end under the vengeful Homunculus' fist. 

"Damn brat," Envy hissed as he stamped through the dusty debris. With a vicious kick he sent a large rock skittering down the street and out of sight. The Homunculus' teeth were bared, pulled into an ugly snarl.

He'd been roaming the city for several hours now, trying to calm himself from his latest encounter with his arch enemy's double. The boy was currently in the safe-house - probably resting. Not that Envy really cared though. The brat could keel over and die for all he cared.

Scowling, Envy lashed out and kicked a hole in another building.

_Fucking bastard…_ Envy seethed, punching the wall he'd just kicked for good measure. His teeth ground together in simmering rage. It was bad enough he'd lost his hold over the pipsqueak's Homunculus, but now it seemed the boy thought he'd somehow become the boss and could give _him_ orders.

Envy had to fight with himself not to hit somthing else.

Not only had the boy refused to be swayed over into his control, but he had threatened to kill him. The bastard! No one threatened him!

Unable to restrain himself, Envy lashed out and sent another wall crumbling to the ground in a billowing cloud of dust. He was breathing hard as he stormed away from the broken remains.

That brat… After all he'd done for the little twerp. He should have just left him in that hospital to rot. The boy was as bad as the real brat, if not worse. Even after saving him from those pitiful humans, he still refused to listen. Not even when the boy was finally forced to acknowledge the truth about his "brother" and the rest of those he supposedly remembered, did he want to accept the fact that he had no one else to go to but him. He still stubbornly wanted to believe he was somehow different from Envy - like he could pretend he wasn't a Homunculus.

It was really rather pathetic. It was starting to make Envy wonder just how stubborn and dense the blond really was. He'd finally seen - or rather _heard_ - the truth of those pitiful humans and still was in denial. No one else but another Homunculus could accept a soulless creature like him. But instead of coming back and accepting his place under Envy's control like the dark-haired Sin had been planning, the boy had come back and made it painfully clear he still had no intentions of joining forces with his Homunculus half-brother.

The bastard! Envy had half a mind to tear the brat in half. With his defiant show of power, the brat had quickly earned a place of utter loathing in Envy's book only second to the original Ed himself.

Envy growled and turned down another street, intent on seeking out more defenseless walls to take his anger out on.

It was bad enough when he only had one Edward Elric to deal with, but now he had _two_. And the second was just as annoying and vexing as the first! If it was in his power he'd rip out every single Red Stone in the brat's puny body and watch with gleeful satisfaction as his arch enemy's double died a slow and painful death.

But unfortunately that might prove a little bit harder than anticipated. Envy was still trying to figure out what to really think about the soulless incarnation of Edward Elric. There was something off about the boy. If the boy's unbridled show of power was any indication, the brat was no ordinary Homunculus. Envy had never seen a power quite like his before. If he didn't know better, he'd almost say he could bend the air around him. Almost like he could use alchemy…

Although Envy would never admit it, he was secretly unnerved by the boy. There was something wrong with him. Homunculi couldn't use alchemy. It was a well established fact (with only Wrath as the exception - and only because of outside circumstances). Yet somehow the boy seemed able to use it, or at least subconsciously use it's basic principles to manipulate the elements around him. And Envy wasn't even sure if he'd actually seen the full extent of the boy's powers yet.

It just wasn't right. The boy wasn't normal. For reasons Envy couldn't explain, the boy was unnaturally powerful. He was hurt, angry, confused but above all else dangerous - and not just towards those that's hurt him. If he'd been under Envy's control his abnormal powers would have been a different story. But Envy hadn't forgotten the boy's parting words to him. The boy was also a danger to him. If left unchecked, the boy could prove a liability to his own agenda. He would have to watch the brat; and if it came down to it, eliminate him. He couldn't take the risk of him getting in his way. If only he could use the brat like he'd originally been planning. He could be such a powerful tool…

Unfortunately, Envy didn't get a chance to figure out how he planned to sway his enemy's soulless double into his control, because just at that moment the front of one of the buildings lining the street suddenly exploded in a billowing cloud of dust and avalanche of crumbling rock.

Shielding his face, Envy scrambled backwards. Bits of stone showered his body. He violently coughed on the dust suddenly clogging his airways. Thick clouds of dirt and debris filled the street. Squinting into the gloomy dust cloud hanging over the demolished remains of the building, Envy struggled to see what had caused the collapse.

As he stared, a shadowy figure appeared through the shifting curtains of dust. It was a short, rotund figure - mostly featureless from what Envy could see. But that didn't stop Envy from recognizing the mysterious figure.

"Gluttony?" Envy said in disbelief as his ex-comrade slowly lumbered towards him through the rocky debris. "What are you still doing alive?"

The corpulent Homunculus didn't reply. He walked head bowed, his round face hidden from view. He lumbered slowly - swaying from side to side - his long arms almost brushing the ground.

"Gluttony, where's Dante? Is anyone else alive?"

Still the other Sin didn't answer.

"Hey! I'm talking to you, pea for brains!" Envy yelled, starting to get annoyed. "I asked you if anyone else was still alive."

The Homunculus remained silent.

Envy was angry now. It was bad enough he had to take crap from the pipsqueak, but he'd be damned if he was going to stand for this from the dumbest member of their old group.

"Answer me, dammit!" he snarled, stalking towards the other Sin. His fists were clenched by his side, his entire body language threatening. He was in no mood for this right now. If Gluttony was going to act stupid, then he was going to beat the answers out of him. Out of all the Homunculi still alive, why'd it have to be Gluttony? He was possibly the stupidest Homunculus ever created. Whoever tried to resurrect Gluttony's original self needed to be drug out in a street and shot.

But no matter how annoying the gluttonous Sin might have been, he still gave Envy sn excuse to take some of his earlier frustration out on.

He was going to enjoy beating the other Homunculus' face in…

But just as he drew near and raised one fist, Gluttony finally looked up, halting Envy in his tracks.

Gluttony's eyes were feral, filled with a ravenous, animalistic look - like that of a starved predator that'd just caught the scent of prey. Envy was suddenly reminded of the night Dante activated the Ouroboros seal on Gluttony's tongue so that he'd eat the pipsqueak's brother and form the Philosopher's Stone in his stomach. There was no sign of conscious thought in the other's eyes. It was like he was possessed - consumed by his base sin.

As Envy stood there, several viscous globs of drool dripped from the corner of Gluttony's mouth and hit the ground, dissolving the pavement like corrosive acid. Gluttony broke into a toothy grin, eyeing Envy as his monstrous tongue licked his lips.

Envy stepped away from the Sin, suddenly wary.

"Stop looking at me like that," he snarled, trying to keep up a stern facade in the face of such frightening hunger lighting the other's eyes.

Gluttony's grinned wider, several more drops of saliva dripping from his mouth and dissolving the pavement at his feet. He stepped towards Envy, his tongue rolling hungrily from his lips.

"Stop it," Envy hissed, taking another step back. "Don't come near me."

But Gluttony didn't listen. For with a ravenous howl, he lunged at Envy.

Envy just barely managed to leap away in time to avoid Gluttony's jaws. He somersaulted out of the other Homunculus' reach, but before he could take stock of the situation he'd suddenly found himself in Gluttony was once again on him, his teeth gnashing for blood.

"What are you doing!" Envy cried, scrambling away from the possessed Sin.

Gluttony however didn't answer and charged after him, ready to devour his escaping prey. Envy didn't stick around to try and talk anymore sense into his ravenous ex-comrade. Turning, the shape-shifting Sin took off, fleeing into another street.

He had to get away. Gluttony was no more than a soulless eating machine now, devoid of any conscious thought. He must have spent the last three years in the underground city eating whatever he came in contact with. It was a frightening thought because it once again made Envy wonder where Dante, Wrath, and the others had gone. If he was right, then he had no desire to join them in the bottom of Gluttony's stomach…

Envy heard Gluttony following close behind him like a runway locomotive. He could almost feel the other's breath on the backs of his heels. For someone as fat as Gluttony was, he moved faster than Envy ever would have thought someone his size capable of.

Taking a sharp left, Envy turned down another street and put on an extra burst of speed. He heard Gluttony follow after him. A small knot of panic began to form in the bottom of Envy's stomach. This was starting to get out of hand. Gluttony was quicker than he thought. He didn't know if he could outrun him like this.

Cutting down yet another street, Envy veered towards one of the crumbling building facades. Above the front window was a small decorative ledge built into the masonry. He grabbed hold of it and swung his body up, intent on escaping onto the second story roof. But before he could, he felt one beefy hand suddenly wrap around his ankle and yank him back down.

Envy was sent flying through the air before he violently collided with another building across the street. He hit the wall and crumbled to the ground at its base. Bits of broken masonry showered his back. Pushing himself back up, Envy slowly turned to face Gluttony.

"Bastard…" he swore. With a wave of shimmering light he transformed his arm into a deadly spike.

Gluttony grinned at him, his demonic eyes almost glowing in the gloomy darkness. He hungrily licked his lips.

Envy sneered in disgust. Raising his transformed arm, he charged Gluttony. No one attacked him and got away with it. If Gluttony wanted to eat him so badly, then he was going to lose a couple of teeth trying…

The two met in a terrible clash of teeth and transformed flesh. Envy swung his arm at the other's head. But before the sharpened limb could inflict any damage, Gluttony turned and caught Envy's forearm in between his jaws. Envy screamed as Gluttony's corrosive drool touched his skin and begin to eat away at it. He tried to wretch his arm away, but Gluttony only bit down harder. Envy swung his other fist at the Homunculus' face, but Gluttony still refused to let go.

Growing desperate, Envy twisted his entire body in place and aimed a brutal high kick to the side of Gluttony's head. This finally made Gluttony release him, but as Envy stumbled backwards - cradling his injured limb to his chest - he felt the corpulent Homunculus' saliva still eating away at his flesh. Looking down, he could actually see bone beginning to show through the corrosive teeth marks on his arm.

Envy clenched his teeth together in pain. He glared at Gluttony, trying to ignore the searing pain shooting up and down his arm. Gluttony, meanwhile, had recovered from Envy's kick and was once again facing him. His teeth were bared in the demonic parody of a smile. His eyes shined with a triumphant gleam, as if with his preliminary taste, he knew he was close to finally earning his meal.

His giant tongue lashing the air, Gluttony once again charged Envy. The shape-shifting Sin managed to avoid the other's teeth, but he was startled to note how much slower he moved. With his arm hurt, he could not use his trademark gymnastics to evade attacks.

Gluttony continued to press him, relentlessly coming after him no matter how hard the injured Homunculus tried to get away. Envy struggled to keep from becoming caught in the other's jaws - even trying to transform his other arm into a weapon - but Gluttony was too much for him to fend off. He probably would have had more luck trying to fight off an oncoming freight train.

Finally, Gluttony lunged at Envy too fast for him to dodge, and using his enormous stomach like a battering ram sent the smaller Homunculus flying into another building. Envy hit the wall with a sickening crunch and slid down against it to the ground. He sat half crumpled over with his back against the wall, too dazed to try and stand again.

Gluttony gave a manic grin, slurping his tongue loudly. Corrosive drool dripped from his mouth as he stared at his helpless prey. Envy weakly stared at him through narrowed eyes, unable to find the energy to defend himself anymore.

Well this certainly was the topper of his day… First he'd lost his hold over the pipsqueak, then been threatened by said pipsqueak, and now he was going to get eaten by the stupidest member of their old group. It was times like this when Envy truly began to wonder if there wasn't some higher vindictive power up there out to get him…

Gluttony eyes narrowed hungrily, and with no more warning charged his helpless prey, his giant tongue rolling from his mouth.

Envy watched Gluttony speed towards him almost as if in slow motion. The Sin's mouth was like a bottomless black abyss, ready to swallow him whole. Envy stared into the yawning darkness, wondering if this was how he was truly meant to meet his end.

But just before Gluttony reached him, a spinning whirlwind of black and gold suddenly appeared between Envy and the possessed Sin. It took the startled shape-shifter a moment to realize his unexpected savior was none other than the hated Homunculus of his sworn enemy Edward Elric.

Before either Sin knew what to make of the boy's sudden appearance, Ed's hand shot out and grabbed Gluttony by tongue - right where his Ouroboros tattoo was. A flash of blinding blue light encased the Homunculus' tongue.

As the light faded, Ed released his hold on the other's tongue and stepped back.

Gluttony stood for a moment as if in a frozen daze. But then, blinking his tiny eyes, Gluttony slowly closed his mouth and stared at Ed and Envy. The manic look of hunger had disappeared from his face to be replaced with a more familiar visage of almost child-like innocence. Quietly sucking one fingertip into his mouth, the rotund Homunculus sat down on the ground and stared at Ed with a placidness only seen when Lust had still been around.

Envy stared in disbelief.

"How'd you do that?" he demanded, staring at Ed in shock. "Only Dante ever learned how to control our Ouroboros seals like that. Only she could activate or deactivate them."

Ed however did not shed any light onto how he'd managed such a feat. Instead he stared at Gluttony with unreadable gold eyes - scrutinizing the larger Homunculus as if reevaluating some old opinion of him.

He slowly stepped towards Gluttony, the wind around him abruptly dying away. Gluttony looked up at him as he neared, his expression curious.

"I think I might be able to use him," Ed said - almost to himself - as he stood over the other Homunculus, studying him closely. "I want to ask someone something, and I think Gluttony might be able to help…"

To Be Continued…

* * *

Despite my other references and little borrowings from the FMA movie, I could not bring myself to write Gluttony into the story as the monstrous, multi-limbed _blob _that was suppose to be him in the movie. I never understood that or liked the characterization, so he will be his usual round self for the duration of this story. 

Any thoughts? Comments and feedback of any kind are welcome.

PLEASE REVIEW!


	9. Those Whom We Seek

**Chapter Nine: Those Whom We Seek**

Thunder rumbled loudly in the distance. Outside the only widow of the room - a tiny barred square barely big enough for a full grown adult to stick their hand through - a stormy night sky stretched overhead. Lightening flashed, momentarily illuminating the sparse interior of a dark jail cell. A monstrous figure sat hunched over on a narrow cot in one corner of the cell, its misshapened head hanging soberly down its chest.

Shou Tucker sighed. He'd been locked in this cell for almost two days now. Since his arrest, he hadn't seen anyone except a lone guardsmen who came to his cell three times a day to curtly shove a food tray at him through the door slot and take the old one away. Other than that he'd seen no one. He had absolutely no idea what was going on outside or what the military was planning to do with him.

Oh, he had no illusions he was going to be charged with illegal human transmutation and probably face execution after a quick and perfunctory trail. But it still would have been nice to actually _know_.

It was so frustrating. He'd been so close. He'd actually managed to bring his only hope of resurrecting his daughter Nina back, only to have that nosy colonel show up at the last minute and ruin everything. It was so unfair. Why couldn't they understand what he was trying to do? Edward was the only one that could create a Philosopher's Stone for him. Alphonse and the rest of them should be thanking him for what he'd done. He'd brought his older brother back for him after all. Just because they couldn't see past the stigmas of human transmutation didn't mean he should have to suffer their ignorant narrow-mindedness.

Tucker gave another sigh and leaned back against the wall. He'd been so close to finally bringing his Nina back. So very, very close… If only he'd had a little more time, he could have accomplished everything he wanted…

The ex-alchemist probably would have went on - bemoaning the unfairness of the world and persecution he was forced to face from those that could never understand his plight - when he was startled out his thoughts by a sudden vibration in the wall. For a moment he thought it might be thunder, but then realized he'd heard no crash or seen any flash of lightning. Another rumble coursed though the floor and walls, making him jump to his feet.

He stood in the middle of the jail cell, looking around in confusion. Whatever it was wasn't thunder. It was something else. And whatever it was was getting closer…

A muffled thump sounded, this time coming from the outer wall of his cell - as if something large was being thrown against the prison's thick stone walls. Tucker stared at the tiny window that was his only portal to the outside world, trying to figure out what was making such a noise.

As he stared a small hole suddenly appeared in the middle of the wall, giving off tiny curls of wispy smoke. The hole began to grow - as if being dissolved away from the outside by corrosive acid - until what appeared to be the top of a bald head suddenly appeared in the gap. Inhuman teeth chewed and gnawed at the melting stone as viscous globs of acidic drool dripped to the floor, widening the hole further until it was almost the size of a door.

The ex-State Alchemist took a horrified step backwards as a large, horribly disproportioned man with gorilla-like arms stepped through into the cell, grinning with a toothy grin. The man hungrily stared at him with beady little eyes, a huge tongue unfurling from his inhumanly large mouth. Several globs of drool dripped from his mouth and hit the floor where they quickly dissolved into the limestone with a sizzling hiss.

"Down, Gluttony. He's not yours to eat," a voice said behind the man.

The man - Gluttony - glanced over his shoulder and gave a disappointed whine, but nevertheless complied - shuffling his considerable bulk to the side to make room for the new arrival.

Tucker looked up in surprise as another smaller figure appeared in the opening, framed by the storm-laced sky beyond. As the new person stepped out of the driving sheets of rain into view Tucker could do nothing more than stare in ecstatic disbelief, his heart leaping into the back of his throat.

Before him was none other than Edward Elric - or at least the _new_ Edward Elric. _His _Edward Elric…

"Hello, Tucker. Long time no see…" the boy said, his tone unreadably deadpan.

The boy's hair hung in rain-soaked tangles, half plastered to the sides of his face. His face was shrouded in deep, back-lit shadows. But despite the gloom, Tucker was transfixed by the boy's piercing gold eyes that seemed to stare at him through the darkness into his very soul.

"It worked… It really worked…" Tucker stammered, staring at Ed in disbelief. He slowly stepped towards the boy. As if in a daze he reached out to touch his creation. But before his hairy hands actually touched the boy he seemed to reconsider and withdrew them, opting instead to continue staring at Ed in ill-contained excitement.

"You're magnificent," he rasped, almost too overcome with emotions to speak. "You look just like him. If I didn't know better, I would have almost thought you were the original Edward Elric. After I was arrested, they refused to tell me what was going on. I was worried what they might have done with you…"

Ed looked away Tucker, his eyes growing shadowed. "I came here to ask you a question, Tucker," he said, his voice barely audible over the distant roll of thunder. "I have to know the truth…" He looked back up at Tucker, his eyes silently pleading for answers. "Why did you make me?"

Tucker gave a throaty chuckle. "Why, to resurrect my Nina, of course," he laughed. "You're the only one who knows how to make a complete Philosopher's Stone. I need it to bring my daughter back."

Ed nodded slowly. "I remember what you did to her - how you used her for one of your experiments…" he whispered. "But is that the only reason you made me?"

"Of course," Tucker replied, as if such an explanation was obvious. "Who else could I have tried to resurrect to help me?"

"What about Al?" Ed asked, desperately staring at the ex-State Alchemist. "Did he help? Did he want to help bring me back?"

Tucker gave a derisive snort. "No. Him and that blasted colonel tried to stop me from completing the transmutation. They almost did, but I managed to do it anyway." Tucker gave a toothy grin, his upside-down face lighting with triumphant glee. "And look at what I did. I created you. And you came out perfectly. I don't understand why they can't see what I was trying to do. If it'd been up to them I never would have been allowed to bring you back…"

Ed's brilliant gold eyes suddenly seemed to fade, as if the light of some secret, lingering hope had been extinguished by the ex-State Alchemist's reply.

"I see…" he whispered, dipping his face from view behind a curtain of rain-soaked bangs. His shoulders seemed to sag - as if finally admitting defeat to some long-defied painful truth.

"But I did bring you back," Tucker went on, oblivious to the change in the boy as his eyes lit with a maniacal look of excitement. "You can help me bring my Nina back now. If you create a Philosopher's Stone for me, I can finally have my little girl back…"

Ed slowly looked back up at him, his eyes as hollow and dead as a living corpse. A faint mist of tears shined in them, but no tears actually fell. It was as if something inside him had died. "It that what you really want me to do?" he whispered, his voice as lifeless and empty as his eyes, "-to reunite you with your daughter?"

Tucker nodded eagerly, rubbing his oversized hands together in excitement. "Yes. Please. I want to see my Nina again…"

Edward nodded, and with that dead look of loss still shadowing his empty gold eyes, he stepped towards Tucker while overhead a mournful roll of thunder rumbled somewhere in the stormy night sky…

* * *

A thin cloud of smoke hung around lieutenant Jean Havoc's head as he walked through the empty streets of Central, his umbrella tilted towards the driving sheets of rain that were threatening to extinguish his last remaining cigarette of the day.

It was late, probably close to eleven. Despite the late hour Havoc had only recently been relieved of duty. The colonel had wanted to finalize plans for tomorrow's hunt for Ed's look-alike, and hadn't let anyone leave until he'd been satisfied with every last detail.

It'd been a long day. Besides Mustang agonizing over every possible contingency for invading the underground city and capturing Ed's Homunculus, there'd also been the issue of Ed himself. The entire day the teenage alchemist had been sullen and withdrawn - refusing to speak unless directly spoken to, and even then being uncooperative in his answers. It was like he no longer wanted to be involved in the capture of his other half, or help anyone else do so. Havoc didn't know what had happened to bring about the sudden change in the teenage prodigy, but had decided it best if he didn't ask. He'd known Ed long enough now to know when not to push the boy.

Nevertheless, it still was rather strange Ed didn't want to actively find his Homunculus self. Havoc would have thought after all the encounters the Elric brothers had had with Homunculi over the years, Ed would have been doing everything in his power to find the boy. It just didn't make sense. But then again, when did he ever understand what was going through Edward Elric's head?

Havoc just shook his head and continued down the street. Whatever the case, everything was going to be solved one way or the other the next morning. Mustang had made it perfectly clear he wanted to infiltrate the underground city as soon as possible. If lieutenant Hawkeye hadn't reminded him about the dangers of trying to conduct a raid on unknown enemy territory when they had no working knowledge of the layout of the land (and in the dark no less) Mustang probably would have ordered them to move out that very night.

As Havoc turned down another street, he suddenly caught the sound of hurried footsteps and a familiar voice call out to him from behind. "Lieutenant! Lieutenant Havoc!"

Havoc paused and glanced back over his shoulder. As he tilted his umbrella up to see who it was - a small cascade of water running off the back of it - he was startled to see Edward Elric running towards him. The boy was panting, his long blond hair plastered to the sides of his face by the rain. His clothes and coat were soaked.

"Ed? What's wrong? What are you doing out?" Jean said. He quickly held his umbrella out over the boy as Ed finally came to a stop beside him and fought to catch his breath. "Where's your umbrella? You're soaked through."

"You have to hurry," Ed panted, ignoring the lieutenant's questions. He desperately looked up at Jean, his eyes filled with urgency. "The colonel sent me to get you. There's been a break-in at the prison. Prison officers just called saying Shou Tucker's been found dead in his cell. It looks like it might be the work of homunculi. The colonel wants you to come back to Headquarters, now."

Jean felt his blood run cold. Shou Tucker? Dead? This didn't sound good. Especially if it was true homunculi were behind the break-in and the ex-State Alchemist's death.

"The colonel needs someone at Headquarters while he goes to investigate the scene," Ed was saying, hurriedly motioning Havoc to follow him back the way he'd come. "You have to hurry."

Havoc nodded before tossing his umbrella and cigarette to the ground and taking off after the teenager. Together, the two quickly made through the deserted streets. The only sounds to be heard was the falling hiss of rain, the wet slap of their feet on the pavement, and their own labored breathing rasping loudly in their ears.

As they came within several blocks of the towering military building that'd begun to peek over the rows of other buildings, Ed suddenly pulled several strides ahead of Jean. "I know a shortcut," he said, motioning towards a small side street in the distance. Jean nodded distractedly, still stunned by news that someone had managed to break into Central prison and kill someone right under the military's nose. It just didn't seem possible. Wasn't there anyplace safe from these soulless things?

Jean was so consumed by troubled thoughts that he'd already run halfway down the new street before he came to an abrupt and sudden stop. Before him stood a towering brick wall.

A dead end…

Havoc slowly turned back around, confused. Ed was standing at the mouth of the alley, framed by the dark buildings on either side of him. His head was bowed, his face hidden from view by deep backlit shadows. His shoulders were hunched, his body language unreadable.

"What's going on, Ed? I thought the colonel wanted to see me," Havoc said, staring at Ed in confusion. A small niggling of unease had begun to form in the pit of his stomach.

"You don't have to worry about Mustang," Ed whispered, his voice barely audible over the falling rain. "He's not expecting you. He doesn't even know about Tucker yet himself…"

Warning bells going off in his head, Havoc whipped his service piece from its holster and aimed it at the boy. "Don't make one move or I'll shoot!" he yelled, narrowing his eyes at the teenager.

"You can try," Ed whispered, finally raising his head from his chest, "but it won't do you any good…"

Before Havoc knew what was happening, Ed rushed him. He moved so quickly he was nothing but a blurry streak of red, black, and gold to the lieutenant's eyes before he was suddenly standing right in front of him - barely a foot away. The boy spun and kicked the revolver from Havoc's hand. A shot went off as the gun went flying through the air before it finally hit the ground and skidded out of sight into the shadows. Havoc took a startled step backwards, but Ed was already on top of him.

His arm cocked back as though in a punch, Ed lunged at the horrified lieutenant. Havoc screamed as he was knocked backwards into one of the alley walls by the force of the boy's attack. Pain exploded through his upper chest and left shoulder - mere inches above his heart. He felt blood - hot, thick and sticky - pour out and begin to seep through his already rain-soaked jacket.

Havoc frantically tried to move - to dislodge Ed's hand that was pinning him to the wall - but found his efforts utterly useless. His left arm was numb with searing white agony. He could barely see enough past the pain to properly focus on Ed whose face hovered mere inches away from his own. Gold eyes, so hollow, dead, and devoid of any emotions seemed to stare into his very soul.

With a brutal twist of his arm, Ed pulled his hand free from Havoc's chest, apathetically watching as the lieutenant crumpled against the wall to the grimy alley floor with a choked off cry of pain. A long streak of red was smeared across the wall behind him. Blood quickly began to pool beneath Havoc, spreading across the ground in watery, red-shot tendrils.

With deliberate slowness, Ed removed his coat and tossed it with a sodden plop down beside the fallen lieutenant, revealing a black tank top underneath. Despite the gloom and his sudden blurry vision, Jean was able to see through the driving sheets of rain the winged serpent brand marring the boy's upper right shoulder - marking him for what he really was.

"You…" Havoc choked, struggling to speak past the pain.

"Yes me," Edward Elric's Homunculus whispered as he slowly stooped to one knee beside Havoc so that he was eyelevel with the bleeding lieutenant.

"Why?" Havoc gurgled. "I did nothing to you…"

"Not yet you haven't," Ed replied, leaning closer to whisper in the lieutenant's ear. "But I heard Mustang and the rest of you making plans to kill me. I was there and heard the entire thing, so don't try to deny it. You want to murder me."

"It's so you wouldn't do something like this…" Havoc whispered. His vision was beginning to swim dangerously, shadowy darkness creeping in along the edges.

Ed's eyes became distant and (if possible) even more hollow; and gave an empty, mirthless chuckle. "So I wouldn't do something like this…" he repeated, laughing at the irony. "What else am I suppose to do? I talked to Tucker. He basically told me he made me to be nothing more than a soulless tool to bring his daughter back with. I was never meant to be human. Not even my brother wanted me back. I'll never be seen as anything but a homunculus - a creature that needs to be hunted down and destroyed. What would you do if you were me? I have no choice but to accept my place and play the part as one. I have nowhere else to go or anyone to accept me… I'm alone… I have nothing else to live for but to protect my own pitiful life."

Despite his own fear and pain, Havoc felt a small pang of pity for the boy in front of him.

Shaking his head, Ed slowly stood straight and stared at the lieutenant's crumpled form with empty gold eyes. "You're going to be my message to Mustang and the others," he said, his voice as emotionless and dead as his eyes. "It's to tell them I'm not going to just stand here and let you kill me like some kind of stray dog. I will fight you."

And then, sorrowfully bowing his head to the rain, the soulless boy turned and slowly slipped out of the alley back in the rainy street beyond.

Jean watched in a foggy daze as Ed disappeared into the driving sheets of rain. He tried to push himself to his feet to go call for help, but found himself too weak to even crawl to his knees. Blood was pouring from the hole in his chest, draining him of life and strength. His jacket was now completely soaked with gore. The pool of blood beneath him was steadily growing.

"Help… Someone…" he desperately tried to call. But his voice was barely audible even to his own ears. The fuzzy ring of darkness tunneling his vision began to grow, robbing him of sight. His head suddenly felt light, his body weightless. He could no longer feel the throbbing pain in his chest.

And just before everything went black, the last thing to cross Havoc's mind was the knowledge this was not how he'd ever pictured himself dying - alone and bleeding in a dark and grimy alleyway…

To Be Continued…

* * *

Please review


	10. Those Whom We Seek Revenge

Thanks so much for the response last chapter. Sorry for the delayed update but Life's been so hectic lately, I've hardly even had the time to _think _about writing. Just as one last remark about my little hissy fit last chapter, I enjoy getting feedback from people because I _do _read what you say and consider every comment that's thrown my way. Because of several suggestions and comments made by readers, this story has taken several different turns from the outline I originally worked out in my head - and for the better I feel. That's why I encourage feedback. Your comments and suggestions can and do influence some aspects of future chapters. So with that being said, I leave you to enjoy the new chapter. (This one's dedicated to all my Havoc-lovers out there.)

**Chapter Ten: Those Whom We Seek Revenge**

The hurried staccato of Mustang's footsteps echoed loudly down the empty white corridors of Central Hospital. He moved quickly, barely suppressing the urge to break into a jog. Hawkeye, Ed, and Al followed close behind, but were having trouble keeping up with the colonel's pace.

Barely thirty minutes ago, while he'd been in his office finalizing plans for that morning's mission into the underground city, Hawkeye had come in with an urgent report from Central Prison. Shou Tucker was dead. One of the guards passing out that morning's food trays had found his body. In the report, it had said it looked like someone had broken into Tucker's cell by coming in through the outside wall - or rather _dissolving_ through the outside wall - and killed him. They were still investigating how that'd been done. Mustang didn't know if there'd been some kind of mistake, but in the report it had said that possible teeth marks had been found along the edges of the melted wall.

Whoever had killed Tucker had done it fast with apparently little to no struggle from Tucker. The ex-alchemist-turned-chimera had been found laying facedown in a half-congealed pool of blood with a single stab wound to the heart. The wound had been large and ragged around the edges, indicating the weapon hadn't been a knife or some other kind of normal killing instrument.

But the odd circumstances surrounding Tucker's death and strange teeth marks found around the hole in the cell wall were not what had Mustang currently hurrying through the halls of Central Hospital with Hawkeye, his youngest subordinate and brother struggling to keep up.

Barely minutes after Hawkeye had delivered news of Tucker's murder, Mustang had received a phone call from Central Hospital. What the nurse on the other end had had to say had immediately made him forget all about going to Central Prison to see the murder scene. Although she hadn't had much information, the nurse's news still rung loudly through Mustang's ears like a horrible chant.

Lieutenant Jean Havoc had been found late last night in the back of a small alleyway. He'd been attacked and seriously wounded, the nurse had said. A woman living in one of the buildings near where Havoc had been found had heard a gunshot go off in the middle of the night and called authorities. Emergency personnel had been unable to identify Havoc at the time and had to take him to the hospital with no other knowledge than that he was a soldier. They'd only managed to identify him now, the nurse had explained, which was why they were calling to tell him since Havoc had no other family living in Central and he was his commanding officer.

When Roy had asked about his subordinate's condition, the nurse had hesitated, only saying that Havoc was still in surgery and suggesting that Roy get to the hospital as soon as possible.

Mustang hadn't even waited for the woman to finish speaking before slamming the receiver back down in its cradle and ordering Hawkeye to get the car ready. It was only lucky he'd happened to run into Ed and Al on the way out of Headquarters and told them what'd happened - which had resulted in both of them demanding to come along with him - before speeding to Central Headquarters in record time. He might have been a high ranking officer - above seeing to such matters himself, especially when he had a fresh murder case on his hands - but if there was one thing Mustang took seriously about his position, it was seeing to the welfare of his men. Havoc and the rest of his team had worked under him for too many years to see them as anything less than family.

Mustang finally found the room the woman at the front desk had told him he'd find his injured lieutenant. Not even bothering to knock, Roy stormed inside - Hawkeye and the two brothers following close behind.

What he saw in the harsh white recovery room though made the colonel's determined footsteps falter and Mustang hesitantly pause in the doorway. Hawkeye, Ed, and Al also stopped, struck speechless by the sight they beheld.

A single bed stood on the other side of the room, a nurse standing on one side of it as she checked the readings on one of the many machines attached to the bed's silent occupant. Havoc lay unconscious in a sea of sterile white sheets. His face was tilted away from Mustang and the others, revealing a large oxygen mask fitted over his mouth and nose. Wires and small plastic patches covered his arms and chest, relaying vital information to the hoards of beeping, whining machines around him. One half of Havoc's chest was wrapped in bandage, several spots of dried blood marring the spanse of clean white gauze. The lieutenant's skin was unnaturally pale - translucent almost - making him look uncharacteristically frail and weak. He didn't move. If it wasn't for the gentle, barely perceptible rise and fall of Havoc's chest and rhythmic beeping from one of the nameless machines hooked to him, Mustang would have almost thought him dead.

For a moment all Roy could do was stare, struck speechless by the state of devastation wrought upon the man who just the day before he'd seen with his familiar cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. He hardly recognized the man before him now. It was like Havoc had somehow disappeared and been replaced with this wretched, half-dead being.

Mustang slowly stepped into the room, coming closer to his friend's bedside. Hawkeye, Ed and Al silently followed him inside.

The nurse finally seemed to realize she wasn't the only one in the room anymore and looked up from the monitors. "Oh. Hello there. Are you friends of Mr. Havoc's?" she asked, spotting Hawkeye and Mustang's blue military uniforms.

"Commanding officer," Mustang replied, coming up beside Havoc's bed and looking down on him. "I just received word he was injured." He stared at his subordinate for a long moment of silence, still trying to convince himself this was the same chain smoking man he knew. There were so many tubes and wires… They seemed to be the only thing tethering Havoc to life his face was so pale and gaunt. Mustang was suddenly truck by the realization Havoc's skin was almost the same shade of white as the sheets he lay against. Just how much blood did he lose?

Reluctantly tearing his eyes away from his lieutenant's face, Mustang looked back up at the nurse. "What happened?" he demanded.

The nurse gave a sigh and shook her head. "I don't know many details, but I read his chart and by what it says he's very lucky to be alive. He arrived in the emergency room only just in time for doctors to save his life. A few more minutes and he would have bled to death. He had to have several hours of surgery and several blood transfusions because of how much blood he'd lost. Whoever tried to kill him missed his heart by only a couple of centimeters. His left lung was nicked, but doctors were able to repair the damage. He hasn't woken up yet, but he should make a full recovery if there aren't any complications."

Mustang nodded distractedly, having already turned his attention back onto his unconscious subordinate.

"Colonel," Hawkeye said, suddenly appearing beside him. She held Havoc's medical charts in her hands.

"Excuse me, but you're not authorized to see those-" the nurse tried to say, but was ignored as Hawkeye passed the file into Mustang's hands and pointed at a small photograph attached to a handwritten note by one of the doctors that had overseen Havoc's surgery.

"Does that look familiar to you?" she asked.

Mustang looked at the picture. It was a close-up shot of Havoc's left shoulder and chest right before he'd gone into surgery. A gruesome red hole almost the size of a fist stood in the middle of it. Despite the photo's size and all the blood pooling in the gapping wound, Mustang could see muscles and pieces of torn sinew hanging like ribbons from the edges of mutilated flesh. Looking at the photo it was hard to imagine Havoc had actually survived such an injury and lived. It took a minute for him to finally understand what Hawkeye was trying to point out by the photo.

He gasped at the sudden realization. He'd seen this injury before - just that morning in fact in another colored photograph when Hawkeye had handed him the report on Shou Tucker's murder.

"It can't just be coincidence, Sir," Hawkeye said, meeting Roy's startled gaze. "The wounds are too similar, and both attacks were committed the same night. Whoever did this has to be the same person…"

"What are you talking about?" Ed butted in, eyeing the two suspiciously.

"Shou Tucker was found murdered in his cell earlier this morning," Mustang said.

Both Ed and Al stared at Mustang in shock. "Why didn't you tell me this before?" Ed angrily demanded, his gold eyes flashing fire.

"I had other things in my mind," Mustang replied, still staring at the grisly photo in his hands. A small knot of anger began to coil in his stomach. Whoever killed Tucker had also hurt Havoc. "The wounds are exactly the same," he murmured. "It has to be the same person…" He was going to _kill_ whoever did this. No one hurt one of his men and got away with it…

But before Mustang or anyone else there could plan how they were going to seek revenge for their fallen comrade, a weak moan of pain -barely louder than a whisper - made all those present spin around in surprise towards the bed. As they watched, Havoc began to stir. The lieutenant sluggishly rolled his head to the side, his eyelids weakly fluttering as though struggling to open them.

Mustang was instantly by his side. "Havoc? Havoc, can you hear me? I need you to open your eyes," he coaxed, gently fitting his hand into his subordinate's wire and tube-infested hand. "Open your eyes and look at me."

As if actually hearing the colonel's order, Havoc managed to crack open bleary, pain-filled eyes. He stared at Mustang for a long moment of silence as if surprised to find his commanding officer standing over him before slowly swiveling his eyes around to take in the rest of his surroundings.

His chapped lips began to move, as though trying to speak.

"What was that?" Mustang said, gently lifting the oxygen mask away from Jean's mouth.

"W-where…?" Havoc croaked. His voice was as dry and rough as sandpaper. Mustang could barely even hear him over the beeping machines in the background. He seemed to be having trouble keeping his eyes open, as if each eyelid weighed a hundred pounds.

"Central Hospital," Mustang replied, squeezing the lieutenant's hand in his own to help focus the other man's attention on him. "You were attacked last night and almost killed."

Havoc blankly stared at Mustang for a moment before weakly nodding his head in remembrance.

"Who did this to you?" Roy demanded, squeezing Havoc's hand a little harder. "Who hurt you?"

Havoc sluggishly blinked. He did so so slowly, for a moment Mustang wondered if he was actually going to open them again.

"Havoc? Havoc," he called, urgently squeezing Havoc's hand tighter. "I need you to answer me. Who did this to you?"

"Please, Sir, he's very weak right now," the nurse interjected, stepping closer. "He's just had major surgery done. He needs to rest."

But Mustang ignored her.

"Havoc, look at me. Tell me: who hurt you?"

Havoc weakly cracked open heavy eyelids again, fighting off pain, fatigue, medication and severe blood loss to answer his colonel's calls. Feebly lifting his other hand, he looked towards the others crowding around the foot of his bed -

and pointed straight at Edward Elric.

Both Mustang, Hawkeye, Al, and even the nurse looked at Ed in shock. Ed, meanwhile, stared back at Havoc, his expression one of startled surprise.

"What? I didn't attack him!" Ed exclaimed, looking at Mustang defensively. "I was with Al all night in the dorms."

"No…" Havoc said, struggling to speak coherently. He sluggishly rolled his head back and forth over the pillow in frustration. Mustang felt him try to grip his hand tighter. "Other Ed… heard us talking… knows about mission…" He began to try to sit up, driven by his urgency to explain. "Please…" he begged, "suppose to be a message…"

"No, Havoc," Roy said, quickly pushing the lieutenant back down onto the bed. "Just relax. We'll find who did this to you. Don't worry. I won't let him get away with this. You did well. We'll get him. Just lie back and rest."

Mustang didn't know if it was actually his reassurances or the drugs staving off the worst of Havoc's pain finally becoming too much for the injured man to fight off anymore, but Havoc did relax. His eyelids slowly slid shut, his hand going limp in Mustang's as his head sluggishly lolled to the side and oblivion once more claimed him.

Mustang refused to immediately release his subordinate's hand, still holding it tightly in his own. His mind swirled with a thousand different thoughts and emotions. His expression darkened ominously.

"Sir, please," the nurse said, once again trying to assert herself. "Mr. Havoc has to rest now. You can come back later if you have anymore questions for him, but he really has to rest now if he's going to recover anytime soon."

Mustang nodded and gently slipped his hand from Havoc's slackened grip. He gave his subordinate one last look before turning and heading out the door. Hawkeye, Ed and Al hurried to catch up with him.

"I want a twenty-four hour protective watch put on Havoc," Mustang said as he led the others down the hall. His footsteps were quick and heavy - anger written in every step. "No one is to come in or out of that room unless specifically authorized. Any suspicious people are to be immediately detained. I also want all information about Havoc's attack on my desk as soon as we return to Headquarters. I want the bastard who did this found _now_. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," Hawkeye said.

"Who could have done this?" Al murmured, almost to himself.

Mustang abruptly stopped and turned back around to stare at the youngest Elric brother. Al also stopped and took an involuntary step backwards, startled by the dangerous fire lighting the colonel's eyes. "Didn't you hear Havoc?" Mustang said, his voice shaking with barely controlled rage. "He said Ed tried to kill him. I know for a fact Fullmetal didn't do it, which means only one other person could have…" He turned and began to stalk away again, his body stiff with anger. "It was that soulless monster of Tucker's… I don't care how much that thing looks like Fullmetal, the next time I see that Homunculus I'm going to kill it…"

Then, not saying another word, Mustang stormed down the hallway and disappeared around a corner, leaving Hawkeye, Ed and Al to silently stare after him.

* * *

The sky was a roiling sea of blackened storm clouds. Lightening flashed, sending brilliant streaks of forked electricity shooting across the heavens. A deafening roll of thunder sounded somewhere overhead. Rain fell in driving sheets, soaking any poor soul unlucky enough to be caught in the horrible deluge. Wind whipped the air, causing the rain to fall at a sharp forty-five degree angle. 

The narrow country road leading towards the southeastern edge of Central was nothing but an empty stretch of mud and water. Few traveled it on foot even in the best of weather, let alone in a storm as bad as the one currently unleashing its fury on the sodden land below.

But despite the cold, wind and rain, a dark figure could be seen through the driving sheets of rain walking the lonesome road. The mysterious traveler wore a tattered cloak, its hood pulled down low over his face. He walked with his head bowed to the rain, his features hidden from view. Mud squelched loudly under bare, unshoed feet. Each step was obviously a struggle for the traveler - the mud threatening to swallow his feet like quicksand. Wind pulled at his cloak like a thousand tiny fingers as rain brutally lashed his face. But the traveler hardly seemed to notice his miserable conditions as he continued to doggedly plod through the soupy mire that was suppose to be a road. He was on a mission.

As he continued in unending determination towards the promise of civilization hiding somewhere over the misty horizon, the rumble of a car approaching suddenly sounded behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, the traveler saw the blurry outline of an old pickup truck appear in the distance. Its headlights pierced the rainy gloom like two lighthouse beacons. Moving to the side of the muddy road, the cloaked traveler stopped to wait for the truck to pass.

As the truck approached though, it began to slow before finally coming to a stop beside the traveler. The window rolled down to reveal an older man - a local farmer by the looks of it - behind the wheel. "You need a ride?" he called, squinting into the rain. "It's too wet to be out walkin' the roads like this."

The traveler nodded once before walking around to the other side of the truck and silently sliding into the passenger side seat.

"Where you headin'?" the farmer asked as he pressed the gas and started down the road again. The windshield wipers thumped heavily back and forth as rain pounded loudly on the roof.

"Central," the traveler replied, his hood still shrouding his face from view.

"Thought so," the farmer grunted. "Aren't that many people that come out this way except the occasional traveler on their way to the big city. Mostly usually take the bigger roads though..."

The traveler said nothing in response.

The farmer gave him a small sideways glance out of the corner of his eye before looking ahead at the road again. "I can take you as far as Anglor in any case," he said. "That's about as close to Central as I'm goin'"

"Thank you," the traveler replied. Reaching up, the traveler pushed his sodden hood back, revealing the face of a young boy - no older than ten or twelve years old - underneath. He had long black hair that hung in thick, unbrushed tangles around his face. His skin was unnaturally pale - like it'd never been touched by the sun. He silently stared ahead past the rain-streaked windshield towards the horizon as if somehow trying to see the elusive city he sought. The farmer couldn't say why he thought so, but an unexplainable sense of melancholy seemed to hang over the boy.

"Where's your mom, kid?" the farmer asked, somewhat taken aback by his passenger's age. "Won't she be worried 'bout you?"

The boy glanced at the man, his expression too distant to read. "I'm on my way to find her," he replied simply. Then turning back ahead to stare the stormy horizon, Wrath leaned back in his seat to silently wait out the rest of his ride…

To Be Continued…

* * *

I forget who suggested it to me in a review, but I originally hadn't been considering bringing Wrath into the story. But after some consideration, I agreed with the person that to leave him out would be a major loss in the way of plot development and character interaction. I'm still not sure about Winry though… She may or may not be coming into the picture. Any thoughts? Comments and suggestions are always appreciated. 

-LAXgirl

PLEASE REVIEW!


	11. Those Whom We Befriend

Wow, what's it's been? About three months? Yeah… sorry about that. But my muse for FMA took a little extended vacation. However, that muse is back! The constant encouragement (and occasional threat) from readers gave me a renewed purpose to pick up where I left off. I am bound and determined to finish this fic, come Hell or high water! Plus, we're slowly closing in on the climax of the story. (_rubs hands together in gleeful anticipation…)_

Warning: some swearing…

**Chapter Eleven: Those Whom We Befriend**

Rain pattered softly at the windows, adding to the oppressive sense of gloom already hanging over the offices of Colonel Roy Mustang. The colonel's staff - Breda, Falman, and Fuery - sat quietly at their desks, listlessly shifting through papers. None of them spoke. They'd hardly said a word to each other since the colonel rushed out of his office earlier that morning yelling for Hawkeye to get the car ready. Although Mustang hadn't said anything about what was going on or where he was going, they hadn't missed the words 'Central Hospital' or failed to note the absence of the last member of their group - Lieutenant Jean Havoc.

It didn't take a State Alchemist to put two and two together…

Unable to do anything else but wait, the three remaining soldiers had sopped around the office in an almost unbearable state of suspense, waiting for news from their commanding officer. But as of yet - over an hour since Mustang left - they still hadn't heard any word about their missing comrade.

So when Mustang finally did return - storming through the door which slammed against the wall from the force of his entrance; and followed closely by Hawkeye and the two Elric brothers - the three soldiers all jumped in their seats and spun around towards the door.

"I want that thing found _now_!" Mustang roared, storming into the room like a raging hurricane. His anger was almost tangible. The air around him seemed to crackle with barely contained rage. No one was about to say anything, but the three soldiers swore they saw literal fire burning in the colonel's eye as he turned to look at them.

Breda, Falman, and Fuery all cringed down in their seats under the colonel's baleful gaze.

"Send word to all available troops that they are to be ready to move out in less than an hour's time," Mustang snarled, spitting out orders like they were venomous bile. "We are to infiltrate the underground city beneath Central. Any Homunculi found there are to be immediately detained, or killed if possible."

"Mustang, I don't think-" Ed spoke up.

"Be quiet, Fullmetal," Mustang snapped. "This is no longer your concern. I will deal with this."

"Like hell this isn't my concern!" Ed shot back. "In case you don't remember, that Homunculus you're going after is _mine_. I have every right to know what you're planning to do. Especially if you're planning to kill him!"

"That thing has to be destroyed!" Mustang shouted, his voice steadily rising in pitch. "I will not allow that soulless creature to run loose around this city - not while I'm still in charge!"

Ed's eyes narrowed, his expression darkening. Al saw the look in his brother's eyes and tried to grab his arm, but it was too late. Ignoring his younger brother, Ed stepped towards Mustang, his hands clenched into fists by his side. "You have no right…" he hissed, his gold eyes narrowed dangerously into slits.

"I have every right," Mustang replied, meeting Ed's glare undaunted with his own. "Especially after what that monster did. I will not put any more people in danger by letting that thing go on some kind of killing spree."

"If you'd actually done your goddamn job in the first place then none of this would have happened!" Ed shouted, standing now almost toe to toe with Mustang. "If you'd been there to stop Tucker from making that Homunculus of me we wouldn't even be in this situation now!"

"Don't try to blame this on me, Fullmetal," Mustang warned. "I did everything in my power to stop Tucker. And besides, it's not _my_ Homunculus that needs to be put down."

Ed's face contorted into an ugly snarl. "Just what are you trying to insinuate by that?" he hissed between gritted teeth.

Both alchemists glared at each other, locked in a battle of opposing views. Neither was ready to back down. Despite all their years of separation, time had done nothing to cool the immortal spark of confrontational tension that burned between the Flame and Fullmetal Alchemist. Both shared the same stubborn mindset in which neither was about to concede his point to the other without a fight. And with both alchemists' tempers flared from their exchange of words and hotly spoken insults, that was exactly what looked like was about to break out between the two at any moment.

But just before any violence could actually erupt, a timid voice suddenly spoke up, breaking Ed and Roy out of their glaring match.

"Uh… Sir? What exactly's going on? Where's Lieutenant Havoc? We haven't seen him all morning…"

It was Sergeant Kane Feury. He sat on the other side of the room between Breda and Falman, timidly looking between Ed and Mustang as if afraid either alchemist might suddenly turn their wrath on him.

There was a momentary pause as Mustang and Ed both stared at Feury before Roy finally gave a disgusted snort and turned away from Ed, his demeanor once controlled although still tense with anger. "What happened-" he said, sitting down behind his desk at the front of the room, "-is that Ed's Homunculus not only attacked Lieutenant Havoc last night and left him to die from a near-fatal stab wound, but also broke into Central Prison and murdered Shou Tucker."

There was a collective gasp from the other three soldiers.

"Is Havoc alright?" Breda said, his face pale with shock.

"He'll live," Mustang replied, his dark eye bright with simmering rage. "But he only barely made it to the hospital in time for doctors to save his life. Any longer and he would have bled to death…"

A heavy silence descended on the room as Breda, Falman, and Feury all struggled to digest Mustang's news.

"Ed's Homunculus did this?" Falman finally said. His shock was mirrored in the faces of his other two comrades.

Mustang curtly nodded, too angry to trust himself to speak.

"Mustang, you can't go after him like this!" Ed exclaimed, stepping forward again. "It's too dangerous! As far as we know, my Homunculus has teamed up with Envy and is hiding in that underground city. What you want to do is basically storm an unfamiliar enemy territory when the enemy already knows you're coming! You've never been in that city or know what it's like down there. It's dark. You can barely see anything even when it's right in front of you. The streets are like mazes and the city is as large as Central itself. You'd never find a single person hiding down there even if you sent an entire army to search it. Envy and my Homunculus will be fighting on their own turf. Havoc said they already know we're coming, and could easily set up surprise attacks for any troops you send down there. Homunculi are also nearly impossible to kill. Unless you remove all Red Stones they have inside their bodies, they'll just keep coming back to life no matter how many times you shoot them."

Ed stared into Mustang's one good eye, desperately trying to make him listen. "You can't send people down there, colonel. It's too dangerous…"

Mustang stared back at Ed for a pregnant breath of silence, the tension almost tangible between them. "How can you even think about letting that creature go?" he demanded, staring at Ed as if the boy had somehow just betrayed them. "In case you've forgotten, that thing almost killed Havoc. It deliberately went after him and tried to murder him, not to mention actually killed Tucker."

"I know that!" Ed shouted. His hands were clenched into two fists by his sides. "I know he tried to kill Havoc, but he only did that because he knew we were planning to come after him first!"

"I'm not going to listen to any more excuses for that soulless creature!" Mustang shouted, anger once again rising in his voice. "Tucker's murder and this attack on Havoc just proves what I said before: this thing has to be destroyed before it tries to hurt anymore people. It's too dangerous to be allowed to live. It has to die."

"Brother's not saying we do nothing about his Homunculus, colonel, but do you we really have to kill him?" Al hesitantly spoke up on the other side of the room. "I know we said we have to go after him, but…" He glanced at Ed, struggling to put his confused emotions into words. "He's still a living thing…"

Mustang stared at the two brothers for a long moment of silence, his expression one of incredulous disbelief. "I can't believe what I'm hearing…" he said, shaking his head. "You two out of anyone else here should understand why this thing has to be destroyed, yet you're standing here actually trying to defend it…" He shook his head again as if disgusted by the entire situation. "That thing tried to _kill_ Jean!" he shouted, unable to hold his anger in any longer. "Just because it looks like Ed doesn't mean that thing is any different from any other Homunculus out there. It is a heartless killing machine that has to be stopped. I will not let that creature hurt anyone else or get away with these crimes!"

Ed's lips pressed into a thin white line, but bit back a retort. Inside him, conflicting emotions roiled with each other for dominance like a mass of angry sea creatures. His mind felt stretched and torn a thousand different ways from the emotional tug of war currently besieging his conscience. While Mustang spoke the words the colder, more analytical side of him already knew and agreed with, Ed couldn't help but hear the voice of his old alchemy teacher, Izumi, echoing in the back of his head - speaking to his heart and reminding him of his own humanity. No matter how much the colonel's words made sense and made him want to seek revenge for his fallen comrade, Ed couldn't forget Izumi's impassioned defense for his Homunculus self. Ed felt torn and confused by his own treacherous emotions. He knew his Homunculus almost killed Havoc and needed to be stopped, but at the same time he felt he had to somehow protect him - or at least stand up for him. Despite all his past encounters with Homunculi and knowledge of what they were capable of, Ed couldn't help but find himself sympathizing with his soulless double. He couldn't help but wonder how it must feel to be so alone, confused, and… hated.

It was rather ironic really. He was doing exactly what he'd once criticized Izumi for doing with Wrath. He suddenly understood what his sensei must have felt when she'd taken her Homunculus child back to the island of his creation to kill him - feeling a sense of obligation to stop a dangerous being, but also torn by some small, unexplainable feeling of empathy for him too. Ed couldn't help but wonder if there still wasn't some way to stop his Homunculus self without having to kill him.

Was there no possible hope of redemption?

He just didn't know…

A suffocating silence descended on the military office. No one seemed willing or able to speak. Mustang sat behind his desk with his fingers steepled in front of his face, his one eye closed in tense, meditative thought. Rain beat heavily against the windows behind him, echoing loudly through the silent room.

"I will not let that creature go," Mustang finally said, shattering the intense silence of the room. "But if infiltrating that underground city poses that much of a danger to troops, I will have to take Fullmetal's concerns into consideration and reevaluate out plan of attack."

He leaned back in his chair, spearing Ed with an authoritive, challenging glare. "Since you seem so knowledgeable about our enemies' hide out, Fullmetal, I want a full report on the layout of the underground city in one hour. I want details on all known ingress and egress points to the city and any other possible hazards we might encounter down there."

Mustang looked away from Ed and scanned the faces of everyone else there. "We cannot risk alerting our enemies to our presence with a large scale group of soldiers until we pin point their exact location. We will send in several small teams to scout the city and find the Homunculi's safe house then send in fully armored troops to take them down." He glanced back at Ed. "We move out at sixteen-hundred hours. Be sure you have that report to me on time."

Then standing up from behind his desk, Mustang gave Ed one last meaningful look of cold determination before purposefully striding to his private office and disappearing inside without another word.

* * *

The underground city was darker than he remembered it being. The buildings seemed somehow more dilapidated and decayed, leaning towards each other as if lamenting their sorrowful state. The last three years had not been kind to their crumbling facades. The silence of the necropolis was oppressive. The smallest footstep or breath of air seemed to echo forever into the distance. 

Wrath couldn't say why - he'd been here a hundred times before - but he had to fight with himself not to turn and flee the abandoned city. There was something ominous in the air, like an unseen threat lurking in the shadows.

The Homunculus child silently made his way through the warrens of deserted streets, unsure of what he was even there searching for. The last time he'd been here seemed so long ago. Had it really only been three years? It felt so much longer... Since leaving Dante and his fellow Homunculi, his life had become nothing but an endless stream of days - one just as meaningless as the next. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. Where hatred and anger once burned so strongly in his chest now was nothing but a hollow void. Revenge had long since lost its appeal. Ever since that fateful night three years ago when he'd once again faced the Gates of Truth and lost his stolen limbs, Wrath had been forced to reexamine the meaning of his existence.

He now understood he could never become human or obtain a soul like he once thought he could. He was what he was: a Homunculus. And nothing could ever change that. The only thing he had left now was the fragile hope of someday finding the woman that had shown him what it was like to have a mother - even if it had only been for a short period of time. She had tried to kill him at one point, yes. But it had been done so reluctantly and with obvious personal pain. Even then he'd known she really didn't want to kill him. He'd just been too hurt by her betrayal at the time to see it.

Even though she'd known he was a Homunculus when she found him on that island, she'd still taken him home and cared for him like a son - loved him even before he'd been brainwashed by those other Homunculi... He wanted to feel that love again, even if only for a little while. He didn't know if she would take him back, but he knew he had to try. He didn't want to keep on living like this: empty and alone. He had to find her. He wanted to see the woman that could have been his mother again. And one of the first places to start his search was Central. That was where the people in Dublith, his mother's hometown, had said she'd gone. So that was where he'd headed. It was only out of some strange and twisted sense of nostalgia that he'd decided to come to the underground necropolis before starting his search. After all, it marked the place where he'd been forced to realize the futility of his quest and come to terms with what he really was…

"What are you doing here, brat?"

So consumed with his wandering thoughts Wrath was only startled back to the present by the echoing sneer of an unsettlingly familiar voice. Pinpointing its origin, Wrath spun around and looked towards the roofline of one of the buildings lining the street. His eyes widened in surprise.

"Envy?" he stammered.

The shape-shifting Homunculus stood on the edge of building, staring down at him through the darkness with a leering sneer.

"What are you doing here?" Wrath demanded.

"I thought I just asked you that," Envy said, leaping down from the building to ground level. He began to move towards Wrath, his movements slow and almost predatory.

Wrath immediately grew wary. He never trusted Envy, and did so even less now than he did three years ago. There was something off about the other Homunculus Wrath couldn't quite put his finger on. It was like his instincts knew something about the shape-shifter the conscious part of him didn't. Whatever it was though it didn't feel right, and Wrath didn't relish the thought about being alone in the darkened underground city with Envy. In fact, his instincts were currently screaming at him to run the opposite direction of his former comrade. Even when they'd been working together under Dante, there'd been something undeniably frightening about the other Sin…

"How are you still here?" Wrath asked, unconsciously taking a step backwards as Envy drew close. "I saw you go through the Gate after Hohenheim. I thought you were gone…"

"Well, I'm back," Envy hissed, still advancing on the younger Sin. "Now I'll only ask you this one more time: what are you doing here?"

"I came back to look for my mother," Wrath replied, as honestly as he could.

"I doubt she's down here," Envy noted with an unexplainably dangerous undertone.

Wrath took another step backwards. "I just wanted to see this place one last time before I go looking for her," he explained.

Envy snorted under his breath. "And what are you going to do when you find her? Ask her to let you be her little boy again, like you were actually human?"

Wrath glared at Envy, his eyes narrowing. "That's none of your business," he growled and turned, beginning to walk away. He wanted to get out of this underground city and away from the other Sin as fast as he could. But before he could even get a few feet, Envy was once again in front of him, blocking his path.

"Now where do you think you're going in such a rush?" he asked in a deceptively friendly voice. "We have so much to catch up on. Three years is such a long time for comrades not to see each other."

"I was never your comrade," Wrath hissed, trying to side-step the other Homunculus. "You're nothing but a psychotic murderer. I was just too stupid back then to see it…"

Before Wrath could react, Envy's hand shot out and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling him within inches of the other's face. Envy's teeth were bared, his eyes flashing dangerously in the gloom. "Don't you turn on me too," he growled. "That brat may think he's the boss, but I'll be damned if I let you backtalk me. I'll rip each and every Red Stone out of that puny little body of yours before I do."

Wrath struggled to free himself from the other's grasp, frightened by the insane look suddenly lighting Envy's eyes. "Let me go!" he yelled.

Envy snarled and pulled Wrath closer, the younger Homunculus' toes now barely touching the ground. "I bet you'd side with that little brat too, huh? That bastard… He shows up out of nowhere then thinks he runs the show. I saved his miserable life from those humans and how does he repay me? By turning against me. If it wasn't for me, he'd be in some government research lab right now, or dead. I should have just left the little runt where he was, or killed him myself when I still had the chance…"

Wrath stared at Envy, unsure what to make of the angry shape-shifter's rambling. He frantically struggled in Envy's grip, trying to escape. But the other just clutched his shirt tighter, lifting him so his toes could no longer touch the ground. He was beginning to panic. He didn't know who or what Envy was talking about, but knew if he didn't get away soon he was probably going to become a convenient substitute for the shape-shifter's wrath.

But it seemed Fate was on the young Homunculus' side that day; for just then another voice rang out, startling both Envy and Wrath.

"What's going on here?"

Both Homunculus' heads snapped towards the voice. Envy's eyes narrowed into two hateful slits at the sight of the one that spoke while Wrath stared in stunned surprise. For standing there between two derelict buildings was none other than Edward Elric himself. Behind the blond alchemist, hiding in the shadows, cowered Gluttony's familiar round form.

For a moment all Wrath could do was stare. The last he'd heard the alchemist had disappeared - assumed dead after giving himself to the Gate in exchange for his little brother's body. So how (and more importantly _why_) was the boy here now? He should be dead; not running around this underground necropolis with the remnants of his enemies' old band of Homunculi. Just what was going on?

But then Wrath noticed something. Something that made his breath catch and his body grow cold. The blond teenager was wearing a black tank top, exposing two matching flesh arms. But what caught Wrath attention was not the fact the alchemist no longer had his trademark automail arm, but that his upper right arm sported a blood red tattoo in the shape of a winged serpent devouring its own tail. A tattoo that marked him as one of them - a Homunculus…

Ed's gold eyes flicked between Envy and the helpless boy he held up off the ground. "Let him go, Envy," he said, his deadpan voice echoing menacingly through the silence of the street.

Envy snarled, grinding his teeth together in rage. His eyes flashed murder as he turned to face his sworn enemy's double. "Why should I?" he hissed.

"Because I said so…" Ed replied. There was something unexplainably threatening in the way he said it, and Wrath was not the only one to pick up on it.

For a long moment of silence Envy just stared at Ed. If Wrath had thought such a thing was possible, he was sure Ed's Homunculus would have keeled over dead right then and there from Envy's murderous glare.

"Let him go, Envy," Ed once again said.

Envy hesitated a moment longer, glaring at the blond. But then, as if unwilling to risk incurring the consequences of the other's unspoken threat, Envy slowly lowered Wrath back to the ground and shoved him away. Wrath stumbled, but caught himself before he could fall.

For several heartbeats of deafening silence Envy and Ed continued to stare at each other, locked in a battle for dominance. Wrath swore he could see literal sparks pass between the two. But while Envy's glare held nothing but hatred and contempt, Ed remained distant and removed - like a pillar of indifferent aplomb - although Wrath saw the blond Homunculus' eyes narrow, as if challenging the other Sin to continue this contest of wills.

Gluttony whined softly behind Ed, glancing nervously between the two. Even from a distance Wrath could sense something - like the whisper of an approaching storm - begin to brew around the blond.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime of unbroken tension, Envy broke eye contact, looking away from Ed with a contemptuous growl. "Fucking bastard," he hissed between his teeth. "I'll get you back for this…"

"Go back to the safe house, Envy," Ed calmly ordered.

Envy looked ready to lunge at the smaller Homunculus. But then, visibly biting back his hatred, the shape-shifter balled his hands into two angry fists and stormed off down the street. Wrath stared after him as the other Sin slowly disappeared back into the gloomy darkness of the necropolis.

"What are you doing here, Wrath? I thought you would have learned not to come back after your last encounter with Dante and Envy down here."

Wrath startled and turned back around towards the Homunculus incarnation of his former enemy who stood not far from him, studying him with hauntingly familiar gold eyes.

"How do you know about that?" Wrath stammered, still trying to comprehend the fact the boy before him was not really Edward Elric, but in fact a soulless Homunculus like himself. It was almost too unreal a thing to believe…

"It seems Tucker wanted to bring me back with my other half's memories," Ed replied, his emotionless voice echoing eerily into the distance. "I remember almost everything the original Edward Elric did before he crossed through the Gate."

"Then you really are a Homunculus…" Wrath said, stunned by what he was hearing. "You really are one of us."

Ed said nothing in reply, his gold eyes silently boring into Wrath behind a curtain of long blond bangs. The younger Homunculus shifted uncomfortably under Ed's gaze, feeling as though he'd just said something wrong. "Um, what's your name?" he tentatively asked, hoping to regain favor with the boy who had just driven Envy - arguably one of the most unstable and blood-thirty Homunculi he knew of - off with nothing more than a well placed glare.

"Excuse me?" Ed said.

"Your name," Wrath explained. "If you're a Homunculus, then what's your Sin name? Even those that had names in their previous lives took on new ones when they were reborn as Homunculi. Like how the Elric brothers' mother was renamed Sloth. What's yours?"

For a long moment of silence the blond just stared at Wrath, his expression unreadable. "My name is Edward Elric," the blond Homunculus finally hissed, his features darkening ominously. "I refuse to take on any other kind of name. I was born Edward Elric and will be called as such. Just because my brother and Mustang see me as nothing more than a soulless creature, I will not degrade myself by changing my name to fit their concept of what I should be. And even if I did chose to take a Homunculus name, I believe you already have it…"

Wrath stared at Ed, unsure of how to respond.

"You mean-?"

"They betrayed me," Ed supplied, his voice dripping with contempt and untold volumes of hurt. "Not only did they leave me to suffer like an animal in some hospital after Tucker created me, but I heard my brother and Mustang conspiring to kill me. They're planning to hunt me and any other Homunculus they find down and kill us."

Wrath felt his blood run cold, his stomach dropping in the bottom of his gut.

"What?" he stammered, unable to believe what he'd just heard. Al wanted to kill Ed? Even if nothing more than a soulless double of the blond alchemist, Wrath couldn't believe Al would actually agree to the colonel hunting down his older brother's Homunculus. It was just too much for him to believe. Although he'd spent little time with the brothers before joining Dante's group, he'd seen how the two had interacted, had relied on and supported each other. They were the perfect team. It was almost impossible to believe that the quieter, softer-spoken Elric brother would actually want to see his older brother dead. It was just too unthinkable!

Yet… if what this Ed said was true and even Al - the second half of a perfect example of brotherly love - could be so cruel and heartless as to want to destroy his own brother's Homunculus, then what did that mean for himself and his estranged mother? Did that mean his mother might also turn on him and want him dead? Wrath felt the fanciful, optimistic dream he'd begun to foster in the back of his mind shatter like a fragile piece of glass.

He suddenly felt foolish. He should have known better than to believe his mother would ever take him back or love him like a real son. He should have known better to believe a human could ever see him for anything more than what he really was - a soulless Homunculus. If not even Alphonse Elric could accept his older brother's Homunculus, then what hope did he have of his would-be mother ever wanting him back?

Ed quietly studied Wrath, his eyes heavy with shared pain. "I see I'm not the only one that knows what it feels like to be hated or betrayed…"

Wrath slowly looked up to meet Ed's empty gold eyes.

"We are about to enter a battle for our own right to live," the blond said. "I have no doubt Mustang will come down here soon with soldiers looking for us. You are free to leave anytime you want, but you are also free to join us. I know you also have a reason to fight…"

Unsure of what to think anymore or where else he could go, Wrath hesitated only a moment before saying the only thing he could.

"Yes. I'll join you…"

To Be Continued…

* * *

**A/N: **The issue of Homunculus!Ed's Sin name had been a continued area of controversy since chapter six or so. So many people sent in suggestions as to what his name should be and different reasonings why he should have a Sin name or not, I was completely torn in deciding what to do. I thank everyone for their input. It certainly gave me something to mull over! I'm still not completely finished with this issue (which will come up again in a later chapter), but for now Homunculus!Ed has no actual Sin name. Any thoughts? 

Sorry again for the long hiatus.

PLEASE REVIEW! (pretty, pretty please?)


	12. Those Whom We Hate

Once again I have to apologize for the horrendously long update time. But I was dreading writing this chapter and kept putting it off (mainly because of all the action scenes and partial writer's block). Hopefully its length will help stave off the worst of my vengeful readers from killing me for making them wait so long. This chapter was literally over a month and a half in the making. So please enjoy!

Oh! And I have to sing the praises of _Kestrel Faeran_ who translated the entire first chapter of this story into French. How cool is that? You rock, _Kestrel_!

**Chapter Twelve: Those Whom We Hate**

Two figures sat beside each other on the far side of the room near a rickety, moth-eaten bed. One was small with long black hair that hung around his face in unbrushed tangles, while the other was a monstrously obese man with a bald head and huge gorilla-like arms. A third person stood near the windows, staring out the dirt-smeared glass into the oppressive gloom of the underground city. He stood perfectly still, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Despite the shadows that seemed to seep from the very walls, his long hair caught what scant light there was and shined a deep, muted gold.

The door of the room creaked open and another person strode inside. "They're here," he said, scuffing his feet against the floorboards as he came to the center of the room and scowled at the blond's turned back. "They're coming down on the eastern side of the city. I counted at least seven squads of soldiers."

"Did you attack them?" the blond asked.

The other grit his teeth in a murderous snarl. "No. I didn't touch those pitiful humans, just like you told me to," he growled. "I could have finished all of them off right then and there if you had let me."

The blond ignored him. "They're early…" he murmured, still not turning away from the window. "I wasn't expecting the colonel to move out so fast…"

"What are we going to do?" the smallest one spoke up, worriedly glancing between the others. "They've cut off our main exit out of the city."

"Those humans are practically begging to be massacred by coming down here," the first one replied, his lips twisting into a sadistic grin. "They came here looking for us, so I say we oblige them and give them what they want. It's been awhile since I've had any fun after all…"

The dark-haired boy glanced at the blond figure still standing like a statue near the windows. The other two looked up and followed his gaze. The fat man whined softly under his breath.

"Ed?" Wrath tentatively called. "What do you think?"

The blond slowly turned around, his gold eyes flashing in the darkness as they swept over the other three homunculi. The soulless incarnation of Edward Elric's face was devoid of any emotion, his body language distant and unreadable. For a moment, he said nothing. But then:

"Let's go meet my significant other. I think it's about time we were formally introduced…"

* * *

Mustang watched as another squad of soldiers slipped out of sight into the underground city's darkened maze of streets. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Ed had been right. Even with Ed's detailed report describing the city, its landmarks and all its possible dangers, nothing could have prepared Roy for the sight he beheld when they finally reached the bottom of the secret passage leading down from the abandoned church and seen the hidden necropolis for himself. 

An entire city, perfectly preserved in time stretched out for miles all around him into the inky darkness. Centuries' old buildings lined the streets like weathered tombstones, marking the place where thousands had simultaneously lost their lives in one huge alchemic transmutation hundreds of years ago. Even if it had been done with alchemy, it was frightening to think how an entire city like this had been wiped off the face of the earth in a single night. The city was as large as Central itself, if not more. What terrible power did the alchemist who did this use? It was a sickening thought because it once again made Roy contemplate what kind of evil had to have been in the person's heart to be able to sacrifice so many innocent lives.

A cold shiver ran down the length of Mustang's spine.

"Colonel," Hawkeye's voice suddenly broke him out of his thoughts as she stepped up beside him, "Squads three and four are ready to move."

"Give them the signal to go," Mustang replied. "Have the other squads hang back a moment to give the first wave time to fan out through the city. We don't want to alert our enemies to our presence just yet."

Hawkeye nodded and looked back over her shoulder towards a group of soldiers waiting in formation near the passageway leading back up to the surface. With a sharp wave of her hand she gave them the go-ahead signal. Silently standing next to each other, Hawkeye and Mustang watched as two dozen more soldiers slipped away into the city.

"Sir," Riza whispered as the troops disappeared out of sight, "are you absolutely sure about this? No matter what was in Edward's report, we are still moving into unknown territory. We don't know if the Homunculi are actually down here; and if they are, they could easily take advantage of the terrain and ambush us."

"Are you questioning my judgment, lieutenant?" Mustang asked, his voice suddenly as hard as steel.

Hawkeye met Mustang's gaze undaunted. "Usually I wouldn't, Sir," she replied. "But given the situation, I have to wonder if perhaps you don't have too much of a personal interest in this. You always did let your emotions get away with you whenever it came to the Elric brothers, and this time is no different. I'm worried you might not be planning your next moves as analytically as you should be."

Mustang stared at his lieutenant for a tense moment of silence, his one eye boring into her as if debating whether to chastise her for insubordination or not. But then, giving a defeated sigh, Mustang broke eye contact and looked away. Leave it to Hawkeye to call him out on something and be absolutely right… How was it that he was her superior but the female sharpshooter still always somehow managed to make him feel like an impulsive four year old? Something just didn't seem right with that.

"I understand your concerns, lieutenant," he softly replied, "but as I've told you before, I cannot ignore what that homunculus did. Something has to be done about it. I can't just sit back and wait for it to attack another one of my subordinates or someone else. It has to be taken down _now_. I can't let it go on some kind of killing spree. I _won't_."

Hawkeye solemnly held Mustang's gaze, her eyes heavy with some emotion Roy couldn't quite name. "Just as long as you aren't letting your emotions blind you, sir," she replied. "I would hate to see anyone else hurt because of some reckless desire to avenge Lieutenant Havoc's attack…" Hawkeye glanced in the direction the last squad of soldiers had gone. "I believe it's been long enough for us to deploy the next wave, Sir," she said, and abruptly turned away from Mustang. "We should go get ready." And then she was walking away from him.

Unable to do anything else in the wake of such a sudden change in topics, Mustang followed after Hawkeye, an empty feeling settling somewhere in the pit of his stomach. How did she always make him feel like a little kid that'd just gotten caught fighting on the playground, yet never raise her voice or even say anything directly rebuking? For probably the millionth time in his military career with Riza Hawkeye, Mustang had to wonder who was really in charge of their little outfit. For some reason had a feeling it wasn't him.

He knew deep down that Hawkeye was probably right - that he was moving faster than he ever would have if there hadn't been that tiny spark of revenge burning in his chest and fueling his determination to find Ed's homunculus. But he couldn't see any other way around it. He wasn't going to let that homunculus get away with what it'd done, even if it _was_ the homunculus of Edward Elric. Somehow that made Jean's attack all the more unforgivable, not to mention Shou Tucker's murder. Those two attacks just proved what he'd been saying all along: that homunculi - no matter who they were fashioned after - couldn't be allowed to live. They were nothing but soulless killing machines - products of unholy transmutations. They were godless creatures that had to be destroyed; even if they did happen to look like one of his subordinates…

As Mustang and Hawkeye neared the group of soldiers gathered near the passageway, Roy caught sight of said subordinate sitting off to the side on a large rock, his younger brother standing close beside him. He suspected traveling down all those winding stone steps from the surface had aggravated the wounds around the base of Ed's artificial leg which he'd gotten the day before while fighting that giant snake. But being the proud little foul-mouth he was, Roy knew Ed wasn't about to say anything about being in pain.

Ed sat with his head bowed, his long bangs hiding most of his face from view. As Roy neared, Ed glanced up and cast him a long penetrating look before screwing his face up in a petulant scowl and sharply looking away, as if disgusted by the sight of him. Al gave Mustang a small, apologetic smile and whispered something under his breath to Ed which only seemed to make his disgruntled brother even more petulant.

Roy inwardly sighed. He knew Ed wasn't happy with him right now. He didn't doubt the boy had second thoughts about going after his homunculus-self and resented being forced into tracking it down. After all, Roy wasn't sure what he himself would have felt if someone had tried to create a homunculus of him and found himself in the same situation. Just the thought of it was enough to fill him with confused, conflicting emotions. But even then, he didn't feel his resolve to hunt down Ed's soulless double waver. No, not even in the least…

No matter how sympathetic he might have felt for the younger alchemist, he could not for the life in him understand how the Elric brothers could forget what that soulless monster had done. It had tried to kill Havoc and had actually succeeded in killing Tucker. If it hadn't been for some small scrap of luck, Havoc could have very easily been laying in the morgue right now instead of a hospital bed recovering from his injuries. The Life-Sewing alchemist might have deserved what he'd gotten in the end, but nothing Mustang could think of warranted that homunculus' attack on Havoc. Nothing.

The creature had to be destroyed, and by god if he had anything to do with it, it was going to be by his own hands. No one hurt one of Mustang's men and got away with it…

The soldiers looked up and saluted as Mustang came to a stop in front of them. Ed, however, remained where he sat, his eyes stubbornly refusing to look the colonel's way. Al gave his older brother a frustrated look out of the corner of his eye, but didn't say anything. Mustang knew he could have made an issue about Ed's blatant insubordination, but decided he didn't need Ed any angrier at him than he already was. He was going to need him in the coming fight. He'd already fought one homunculus by himself two years ago when he'd snuck into King Bradley's mansion and confronted the homunculus Fuhrer; and had no desire to do so again without experienced backup.

Besides Hawkeye, Breda, Falman, and Fuery were also there from Mustang's personal staff. Three squads of soldiers still remained besides the four squads that had already been sent out into the city to scout for their enemy's whereabouts. Waiting with them - his tiny blond curl jutting proudly from the top of his head - was also Major Alex Louis Armstrong. The man towered above all those around him, making him the easiest to distinguish in the murky gloom. Mustang hadn't originally been planning to enlist Armstrong's help in invading the underground city, but once word of Mustang's plans and rumors of Ed's return had begun to circulate around Headquarters, Armstrong had taken it upon himself to go see if the rumors were true and (in typical Armstrong fashion) passionately offered his aid to the colonel with the showiest display of pink sparkles ever seen in Amestris military history to date…

Mustang still felt a small pang of sympathy for Edward when Armstrong had been reunited with the missing alchemist. He was actually surprised Ed had managed to survive one of the Major's infamous bear hugs without any compound fractures. Those hugs had been known to cripple lesser men. And it was because of that and the fact that Armstrong was also an accomplished State Alchemist, Roy knew that Armstrong could only be an asset in their underground mission against the Homunculi, and had allowed him to come…

The only person Mustang had reservations about accompanying them into the underground city was the Elric brothers' ex-alchemy teacher. The woman stood off to the side away from the other military personnel near the two boys. Her arms were darkly crossed in front of her chest - much like they'd been when she'd demanded to be allowed to accompany them - brooking no argument even from the revered Flame Alchemist. Roy was beginning to question his own masculinity. First Hawkeye, and now the Elric brothers' teacher… Who would it be next? Still, there was no denying there was something frightening about that dark-haired woman with dreadlocks. No matter what anyone might say about him caving to a civilian woman's demands, he had no desire to actually test and see what the woman was actually capable of. There was something to be said about her just from the fact that Edward Elric - the headstrong teenager who rarely listened to, let alone _respected _him - was deathly afraid of her.

"You've all been briefed about what our targets are and how they are to be dealt with," Mustang said as he scanned the assembled group. "If anyone comes in contact with one of the homunculi, you are to immediately contact other units for backup. No non-alchemist is to directly engage them unless absolutely necessary. The creatures must first be rid of any Red Stones in them before they can be killed with any conventional weaponry. If you should be attacked by one, send up a flare to alert others for help. Are there any questions?"

Mustang's one eye scanned the wall of faces staring back at him. No one made any reply. "Good," Roy said. "Let's move out. Squads five, six, and seven are to fan out in your pre-described attack patterns. Be aware that the creatures we're looking for are highly dangerous and are to be dealt with accordingly. Take no risks with them."

Then turning towards the underground necropolis, Mustang motioned them to move out. As the lines of soldiers streamed past him into the darkened maze of streets, Mustang tugged on the bottom of his array-printed gloves, taking reassurance in the familiar scratchiness of them against his skin. He was going to need them in the coming fight. He might have hesitated once when he'd stood there over the newly created homunculus of Edward Elric in the basement of Laboratory Five, but not this time. This time he wasn't going to hesitate in unleashing his gloves' hellish fury on Tucker's soulless creation.

This time he was going to end this once and for all…

* * *

Ed warily scanned the dilapidated, leaning buildings that lined the streets around him. Their crumbling facades and empty windows made him uneasy. They reminded him of the eye sockets of decaying skulls. 

They'd been searching the underground city for over an hour now and still hadn't seen any sign of their homunculus targets. None of the other units had reported seeing anything yet either. Except for the dusty scuffle of footsteps and the occasional whisper, there wasn't a sound to be heard anywhere else in the city. The oppressive void of lifelessness seemed to suck all other sound away. Ed couldn't help but be reminded of the old, overused cliché of something being as 'silent as the grave.' But somehow thinking about that in the place he currently was gave a whole new meaning to the phrase, because that was what this city really was - a grave.

Ed looked around. They were nearing what looked like some kind of public square or plaza. There was a large decorative fountain - long since dried up - in the middle of a wide cobblestone street that wrapped around it in a circle with smaller streets leading off it like the spokes of a wheel. The crumbling remains of an official-looking building stood at one end of the square - some kind of government hall or library maybe, who knew. It was hard to tell.

The buildings lining the plaza looked to be in a much farther state of decay than many of the other buildings they'd come across so far. Many of their fronts had collapsed and lay in piles of strewn rubble that stretched all the way out into the plaza's center.

"We'll take a moment to rest here," Mustang's voice drifted back from somewhere near the head of the group. Ed could just make out Hawkeye and the back of her blonde chignon through the murky gloom, and assumed the figure beside her was Mustang. (Reason would dictate so since even from his earliest days in the military, the two could almost always be found right next to each other.)

The soldiers seemed glad for a break and quickly staked out places to sit amongst the boulders and rumble of the surrounding buildings, pulling out canteens of water and passing them around to each other.

"Sergeant Fuery," Mustang called from the base of the waterless fountain, "I want you to do a quick radio check-in with other units. I want to know where they are in regards to our current position."

As Fuery hurried towards him and began to tune a small handheld radio to its proper frequency, Ed found a boulder off to the side away from the other squads of soldiers - but more importantly away from _Mustang_ - and sat down. His left leg was hurting. The base of his artificial leg was still sore from his fight with Envy the day before. Gauze and bandages had been wrapped over the scratches and cuts, but being forced to climb down all those winding stone steps from the surface hadn't done anything to help his healing wounds. He was going to chew Mustang out once this nightmare was finally over…

"Are you alright, Brother?" a familiar voice suddenly broke through Ed's thoughts and startled him back to the present. "Your leg's not hurting you, is it?"

Looking up, Ed found none other than his younger brother standing there with Izumi not far behind him.

Ed gave a wan smile. "No, I'm fine, Al. Here, have some water," he said, passing a canteen to the younger alchemist. Although he'd never admit it out loud, he enjoyed Al's worrying. It was reassuring after almost three years of not being able to hear his little brother's voice or experience that simple feeling of having someone you loved looking out for you. Al took a swig of water and passed the canteen back to Ed.

Taking a sip himself, Ed glanced up at his ex-alchemy teacher. "I'm sorry the colonel's little excursion isn't as entertaining as we were both expecting."

Izumi just shook her head. "I came along solely on the basis of stopping him from killing your homunculus. I'm not going to stand by and let some military leader kill an innocent boy just for his own ambitions. So right now I consider his inability to track down any homunculi a positive thing."

_My homunculus really isn't all that innocent in any of this, _Ed wanted to point out, but wisely kept his mouth shut. Even he wasn't stupid enough to try and argue with his old alchemy teacher on such a controversial subject. He already knew where she and Mustang both stood on the issue, and knew absolutely no amount of arguing was going to make either one of them concede their point.

Al, too, didn't say anything to the contrary.

"Don't you think it's strange we haven't come across Envy or Brother's double yet?" Al tentatively asked, glancing between Ed and Izumi. "Do you think the colonel might have been wrong and they're really not hiding down here like we thought?"

"I don't know," Ed murmured, running his fingers through his hair. "I don't know of anywhere else they could've gone though. This is the most obvious place they could've gone. But then again, we don't know if Dante had any other hideouts in Central."

"Might they have actually left Central?" Al asked.

"I doubt it," Ed shook his head. "My homunculus attacked Havoc just last night and he seems pretty determined to go after any other people he has a grudge with. I doubt he would leave Central now."

Al somberly nodded his head.

"What do you think the colonel will do if he can't find your homunculus down here?" Izumi asked.

Ed gave a derisive snort. "Like I would know…" he hissed. "Mustang doesn't want to listen to anything I have to say. He thinks he knows everything. He'd probably want to continue hunting my homunculus though. The one thing I do know about Mustang is that he's a tenacious bastard, and won't give up that easily. He'll deploy troops anywhere he thinks my homunculus might've gone."

Izumi's lips thinned and her already ominous features darkened. "That bastard…" she hissed under her breath.

Ed couldn't find it in himself to disagree. He didn't have any particularly fond feeling towards the colonel right now himself. Not only was Mustang bent on destroying a being that was essentially himself, but he'd also forced him into being an active participant in doing so. No, Ed could definitely say Mustang was not high on his Favorite Persons List right now.

"Fullmetal," an odiously familiar voice suddenly called out from the group of officers gathered near the fountain, "get over here."

Ed forced himself not to snarl. _Speak of the devil…_

"Looks like the bastard wants to talk to me," he muttered as he stiffly pushed himself to his feet. He gave Al and Izumi a parting scowl that wasn't directed at them. "I'll be right back."

Ed's screwed his face into an unpleasant frown as he neared the fountain and Mustang standing there with the rest of his personal staff and Major Armstrong. "What do you want?" he huffed as he finally came to a stop in front of the older alchemist and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Watch your attitude, Fullmetal," Mustang said, shooting Ed a warning look. "I'm not going to stand for anymore of your insubordination."

Ed's eyes narrowed, but bit back the angry retort that was hanging on the tip of his tongue.

"What do you want, _sir_?" he snidely rephrased.

Mustang ignored his tone. "We've contacted the other units. They've just finished covering other parts of this section of the city, but still haven't detected any signs of the homunculi. I want to know if you remember anything about the last time you were down here and about anywhere they might be hiding."

"The last time I was down here I was being chased by a giant snake hell-bent on biting me in half," Ed shot back. "So I really didn't get a chance to look around. And the time before that I was fighting them in an old opera house. But I doubt they would be hiding there now."

"And what makes you think that?" Mustang said.

"Because I'd never try to hide in a building that was big enough to see from almost anywhere in the city," Ed hotly replied. "And since the homunculus we're hunting is suppose to basically be _me_, I think it stands to reason that he wouldn't try to hide there either."

The muscles around the colonel's eyes and mouth twitched - as if inwardly wincing - but otherwise remained aloof and didn't respond.

"Perhaps we should split up to cover more ground," Armstrong suggested.

"No," Mustang said, shaking his head. "It's too dangerous. I want at least one full squad of soldiers for each homunculus. Any less would be too dangerous to risk fighting them with."

"Could we draw them out somehow?" Breda asked.

Ed snorted. "Homunculi are soulless, not stupid. They'll smell a trap from a mile away. Especially when they already know we're coming. Probably the easiest thing to do would be to just stay here and wait for them to attack us."

"Why, what a perfectly splendid idea!" another voice suddenly rang out over the plaza, echoing from somewhere amongst the surrounding buildings. "Because we were just thinking the exact same thing."

Ed felt his blood run cold. He knew that voice… It was one that haunted his nightmares and reminded him of all that was evil in the world.

All the soldiers instantly leapt to their feet, reaching for their guns. Mustang, Hawkeye and the others were looking around, trying to pin-point the origin of the voice. But somehow - like a sickening premonition - Ed already knew where to look.

Glancing up at the far side of the plaza near the crumbling roofline of the buildings there, he found the one he was searching for - standing there on the edge of one of the roofs with a psychotic grin on his face.

"Envy…" Ed hissed, his hands unconsciously clenching into two fists by his sides.

The shape-shifter gave a leering grin as he eyed the group of startled soldiers. "So many stupid humans…" he hummed like a little kid on Christmas unable to decide which present to open first. "Which to kill first?" he mused.

Many of the soldiers had already begun to aim their rifles at the dark-haired homunculus. But before they could get off any shots, the ground beneath them began to rumble, shaking like the start of a small earthquake. Several cried out as the rumbling became stronger and the front of one of the buildings to their right suddenly exploded, as if it'd just been hit by a wrecking ball from the other side.

Dust, rubble, and broken glass flew everywhere. At least four soldiers fell to the ground, either knocked unconscious by flying debris or holding wounded, bleeding limbs.

As the billowing clouds of dust began to shift aside, they were finally able to see the one who'd caused the explosion.

A short, monstrously round man stood there framed by the broken remains of the building. His giant tongue rolled from his mouth, licking his lips as hungrily eyed the group of horrified soldiers with beady little eyes. Globs of drool dripped from the end of the man's tongue and hit the ground with a sizzling hiss, eating into the pavement like corrosive acid.

"Gluttony?" Ed gasped.

"Another homunculus?" Fuery stammered. "Just how many of them are there?"

Mustang quickly stepped forward, the shining example of authority. "All soldiers, on my mark!" he roared, his voice echoing through the underground square. "Take aim… _Fire!_"

A volley of gunshots rang out, both towards Gluttony and Envy still perched on the roof. But the bullets seemed to have no effect on them.

Envy gave another grin and glanced down at his overweight counterpart. "Alright, big guy, you remember what the brat said before. Get 'em!"

Like a ten ton freight train, Gluttony lunged at the nearest soldier, his giant tongue lashing the air. The man screamed as the Sin's teeth clamped down on his arm and he was forced to drop his weapon. Several of the other soldiers raised their rifles and aimed at the monstrous being, but with more speed and agility than anyone would have expected from someone his size, Gluttony lunged at the next nearest soldier. The man barely had time to fire off a shot before he too fell to the ground with a slurpy crunch of teeth biting through flesh and bone.

Envy by now had jumped down into the plaza, a psychotic grin still plastered across his face. Out of the corner of his eye, Ed saw two soldiers fall to the ground in the dark-haired Sin's wake with twin spurts of red.

Screams and the patter of scattered gunshots filled the plaza. The fiery trail of a flare gun being fire suddenly shot up in a lazy arch into the air and hovered there several hundred feet above the ground, illuminating the underground plaza in brilliant white light. Somewhere off to his side, Ed heard Fuery frantically shouting into the radio for backup.

Ed looked around him, desperately trying to get his bearings. All he could hear was gunfire and screams. Breda, Fulman and Armstrong had already begun to move off towards Gluttony to try and stop the monstrous Sin. More rounds of gunfire broke out.

"Al? Sensei?" Ed shouted, desperately looking around for his brother and teacher in the confusion. He couldn't see them anywhere. The flickering glow of the flare overhead and the chaotic movement of everyone around him made it hard to distinguish one person from the next.

But then he caught sight of them. Al and Izumi were both locked in battle with Envy on the other side of the plaza, waves of crackling blue light racing from them towards the agile homunculus. As Ed watched, Envy cart-wheeled to the side to avoid one of Izumi's attacks - his lips twisted in a malicious scowl - when a streak of flames suddenly sliced the air and scorched the homunculus' upper arm. Envy rounded on his new attacker, his lips curled away from his teeth in a fearsome snarl.

"Go help Major Armstrong, Fullmetal," Mustang called as he calmly stepped forward towards Envy, his gloved hand held out in front of him with his fingers poised to unleash another attack. Hawkeye stood behind him just off to the side, her gun aimed past him at the shape-shifter's head. "We have enough alchemists to deal with this homunculus here. Armstrong will need help transmuting the Red Stones out of that other one."

Ed hesitated a moment. But then with a nod of reluctant understanding, he turned and began to run back towards the cluster of shouts and gunfire behind him. "Just don't get yourself killed yet, bastard!" he yelled as he hurried away towards the group of soldiers fighting Gluttony. "I don't want Envy to have all the joy of kicking your sorry ass. That pleasure's strictly reserved for me!"

* * *

"Don't worry, I won't," Mustang murmured as the younger alchemist hurried away. 

The homunculus (Envy was it?) was like a whirlwind of limbs and dark hair, dodging and cart wheeling away from Al and Izumi's attacks like a professional gymnast. Roy could barely track him with his eye he moved so fast.

When he saw a sudden opening, Roy snapped off another jet of flames towards Envy. But before the plume of fire could touch the homunculus, Envy noticed and sprung away, just barely missing the flames in time. Hawkeye quickly tried to follow Roy's attack by firing off several rounds, but the homunculus proved too fast for the female sharpshooter to keep in her sights, and she only managed to leave a trail of bullet holes in the pavement.

Envy somersaulted out of Hawkeye's range and paused a moment, his eyes narrowing at Mustang. "You think you're pretty tough with those flames of yours, don't you?" he snarled. "If that brat hadn't already called dibs on you, I'd take you out myself. So don't think I'm not coming after you because I'm afraid of you or something."

A muffled clap over the background staccato of gunfire was the only thing to warn Envy of the incoming alchemy attack from one of the other alchemists he was fighting before he was once again somersaulting away from Mustang back towards Izumi and Al, a contemptuous look painted across his face.

Mustang and Hawkeye both stared after him a moment before glancing at each other. Just what did he mean by that?

Roy was about to ignore the homunculus and go after Envy again when a hauntingly familiar voice suddenly spoke up behind him, freezing him in his tracks.

"Running away so soon, colonel?" it said, its tone like ice-tempered steel. "And here I thought you came down here looking specifically for me…"

Roy forced himself to move, to turn around towards that frighteningly familiar voice. And when he did - just like he suspected - he found himself staring back into the face of his very own subordinate Edward Elric.

Or rather, the soulless incarnation of Edward Elric.

The boy stood on a large pile of rubble from one of the surrounding buildings half a dozen feet away. His hair was pulled away from his face in a braid just like the older Elric brother always wore it. But unlike his human counterpart, the boy didn't have Ed's trailing red coat or automail limbs. Instead he wore plain black pants and a tank top that revealed the mark of his own damnation. A tattoo branding him as the product of an unsuccessful human transmutation.

A Homunculus…

For a moment, Roy could do nothing more than stare.

The boy seemed to stare straight down into his soul, pinning him where he stood with hauntingly familiar eyes which seemed to glow an eerie metallic amber in the flare-light overhead.

"Hello, colonel," the boy said, his voice unnervingly deadpan. "Long time no see…"

"You…" was all Mustang seemed able to sputter under the boy's hypnotic gaze.

Ed's homunculus frowned, his lips pressing into a thin white line as he stared back at the colonel. "Yes, me…" he hissed, his eyeing narrowing.

The sudden change of tone seemed to snap Mustang out of his reverie and back to the present. He hadn't forgotten why he'd come down here searching for his subordinate's look-alike.

Gritting his teeth together at the violent surge of hatred that welled up inside him at the memory of who and _what_ the boy before him was, Roy's one hand flew up, his thumb and forefinger poised.

The boy - his body language now tense and threatening - carefully descended the pile of rubble, his eyes never leaving those of the colonel.

"You really think you can kill me?" he asked. His emotionless tone seemed to be baiting Mustang for a response.

"You're damn right I do," Mustang growled. "I haven't forgotten what you did to Havoc or Tucker."

"They both deserved what they got," the boy hissed, an unforeseen note of malice entering his voice. "What I did to Havoc was merely a preemptive strike against what you were already planning to do to me. I heard you planning to kill me."

"Because you're a monster," Mustang replied, glaring at Tucker's creation. "You attacking Havoc just proves you have to be destroyed."

"Perhaps…" Ed's double replied, his eyes shadowed. "Perhaps I am a monster. But only because you made me into one."

"Don't try to blame your own evilness on me," Roy hissed. "I'm not the soulless creature that attacked an innocent man in the dead of night or killed another one who was locked in a cell with no way to defend himself."

"Don't call me a creature," Ed's double snarled, his gold eyes flashing. "I'm not some animal or mindless beast."

"To me you are," Mustang replied, his hand still threateningly outstretched towards the boy. "To me you are nothing but the result of an evil science experiment that needs to be cleaned up."

Ed's double snarled, his features contorting into a confused mixture of anger, pain, and hurt. "You bastard!" he shouted. "What do you know about being created for some deranged man's own agenda and then abandoned by everyone you thought you ever knew or cared about?! What do you know about being hated for just being what you are? What do you know about your own _brother_ wanting you dead?!"

"You're _not _Edward Elric!" Mustang screamed. "Stop acting like you are! You are nothing but a cheap look-alike made to replace him!"

"I _am _Edward Elric!" the boy screamed back, angry tears rimming the bottom of his eyes. "I have his memories! I have feelings, a heart, and a mind! What makes me so different from him that you can't at least see me as a person? What don't I have that'll make me human?!"

"You don't have a _soul_!" Mustang yelled, and - unable to stand anymore of the boy's painful words - ignited the flammable material of his gloves.

A plume of fire shot towards the boy. But before it could get within ten feet of him, a whirlwind of energy suddenly sprung up and began to whip the air around Ed's homunculus as if he'd just become the eye of some alchemic hurricane.

For a moment, Roy could do nothing more than gape as his signature flames were halted midair and snuffed out of existence as easily as a match being held up to the winds of an approaching storm.

But his surprise was nothing compare to the shock he received when the winds surrounding Ed's double suddenly parted and the boy slowly stretched his hand out towards him, his thumb and forefinger pressed together as if to mimic Roy's signature alchemy attack - and sent a giant plume of fire streaking back towards Mustang.

Roy barely managed to dive away to the side in time to avoid the column of flames that roared past him like a blast from the very pits of Hell itself. He could feel his skin actually dry and tighten around him from the intense heat. Breathing hard, Roy glanced at the place where he'd just been standing no more than a few seconds ago. All that remained now was a blackened patch of ground.

"Your alchemy attacks are no use against me," the boy said as the vortex of energy around him died down enough for him to speak. His bangs and edges of his clothes danced in the unexplainable cyclone of wind that continued to swirl around him. "Like many of my predecessors, I was born with a special power. I may not be able to actually do alchemy myself, but I can neutralize, reverse, and return any transmutation that comes within range. Including your trademark flames, colonel…"

It was then - standing there, staring at the soulless double of his subordinate with his gloved hands hanging uselessly by his sides - that Mustang suddenly realized he had no hope of defeating this homunculus version of Edward Elric…

* * *

Ed's breathing was becoming strained as he dropped to his knees and pressed his hands to the ground, transmuting a series of giant spikes up out of the ground around Gluttony. He still wasn't used to this type of constant, intense fighting. His three years trapped on the other side of the Gate studying to find a way back home had done nothing for his stamina or fighting abilities. If he ever made it out of this underground city alive, one of the first things he was going to do when he made it back to the surface was ask Izumi to whip him back into shape - not matter what unpleasant methods she came up with… 

Gluttony stared at the spikes of rock Ed had transmuted around him for a moment with childlike curiosity before going up to one of them and subsequently biting it in half.

"That creature certainly does have an interesting idea of what is edible and what isn't," a voice suddenly said.

Ed looked up to find Armstrong standing there beside him, the top of his military uniform gone and bulging muscles exposed. _Some things just never change…_ Ed thought, inwardly rolling his eyes.

"You can say that again," he sighed. He tiredly pushed himself back up to his feet, feeling the base of his left leg stump throb with the effort. He forced himself to ignore the pain though. He didn't have time to let old injuries slow him down.

Nearby, a group of soldiers were firing at Gluttony, but their bullets harmlessly bounced off his doughy body. With a rapacious grin, the Sin turned and barreled towards another soldier, his mouth a yawning black abyss.

"How do we stop him?" Armstrong said, motioning towards Gluttony. "He seems unstoppable. None of our weapons are doing any damage."

"We have to remove all the Red Stones from his body before we can kill him," Ed replied.

"And how does one do that?" Armstrong asked.

"With a special transmutation circle," Ed replied. "I've used it several times before to kill other homunculi. They need to be caught inside the array, and then physically forced to expel the Red Stones from their bodies with a transmutation. Usually they throw them up."

"Can you draw that transmutation circle here?" Armstrong asked.

Ed shook his head. "I don't know if I can seeing as how we would have to try and trick Gluttony into it once I draw it, and then it's a very complex array. It would take some time to draw."

"If I distract the homunculus long enough, do you think you can draw it?"

Ed stared at Armstrong for a long moment of silence. "I can try," he finally said.

"Good," the major nodded. And then, flexing his muscles in a very ostentatious way, he struck a pose. "Alex Louis Armstrong will not let you down."

Ed couldn't find it in himself to do anything more than just nod and tiredly motion Armstrong back towards Gluttony. "Fine, fine, whatever. Just give me enough time to try and draw this thing."

As Armstrong ran back towards his fellow soldiers trying to contain the hungry Sin, Ed took a small nub of chalk out of his coat pocket. Hurrying across the rubble-strewn plaza, Ed found a patch of ground that was big enough and relatively clear of debris. Bending down, he quickly began to sketch the outline of the same array he'd used to kill Greed and the homunculus of his own mother.

But as the young alchemist began to darken in the outer ring of the array, he suddenly heard the snap-hiss-roar of a plume of fire flaring in and out of existence. Freezing, Ed's head snapped around to look over his shoulder back towards the other side of the plaza where his brother, Izumi, Mustang and Hawkeye were fighting Envy. Another flare of fire brightened that corner of the plaza, momentarily outshining the flare overhead and illuminating the outlines of the people there.

What he saw instantly made Ed forget all about the alchemy array he was suppose to be drawing.

_What the-! No… It can't be…_

And then dropping his piece of chalk on the ground, Ed took off towards the other side of the plaza, disbelief and a strange sense of wonderment squeezing his heart in a tiny ball in the middle of his chest.

* * *

Roy stared at the soulless counterpart of Edward Elric, a stab of fear going through him. This wasn't right. He hadn't been expecting this homunculus to be so powerful. How was he suppose to fight a creature that could neutralize and use his own alchemy attacks against him? There was no way he could win. He couldn't use alchemy attacks and conventional weapons were useless against the boy. 

"What's the matter, colonel?" Ed's double asked as the wind around him completely died away, "afraid you can't win now?"

Roy didn't say anything. He kept his features carefully blank, giving none of his inner thoughts away.

The boy slowly looked away from Mustang at the ground, his eyes shadowed with some emotion Roy couldn't exactly place. "All I wanted was for you to accept me…" he murmured, almost to himself. "I did nothing to you, and you wanted to kill me. You even convinced Al I had to be killed. I just don't understand _why_…" He sharply looked back up at Roy and speared him with a piercing gaze. It was like he was begging Mustang for an answer to a question he knew even then could never actually be answered.

"You shouldn't exist," Mustang replied, his stance wary. He wasn't about to drop his guard for a second. His one hand surreptitiously strayed to the revolver on his hip. He rarely ever used it, but with his flames as good as useless, it was his only form of defense. He knew it wasn't going to do much good against the boy, but maybe it could buy him enough time to think of someway to gain an advantage.

"You're not human," he went on, keeping his eye on the boy. "It's like I said before: you don't have a soul. There is nothing stopping you from becoming a monster like all those other homunculi before you."

And then, moving faster than the boy had time to react, Mustang whipped his service piece from its holster and fired off several shots at his subordinate's homunculus. He was nowhere as skilled with a gun as Hawkeye but he could still shoot straight, and managed to sink three bullets in the boy's chest.

Ed's homunculus staggered backwards, holding his chest. But he did not fall.

"Is that the best you can do, colonel?" he murmured as he slowly stood straight again and let his hands drop back to his sides.

Roy watched in a numb sort of horror as the bullets he'd shot slowly reappeared across the boy's chest as though being squeezed out of him from the inside and fell to the ground in a shower of flattened metal.

The blond teenager slowly began to move towards Roy, closing the distance between them with tense, measured, threatening strides. His face was a twisted snarl of anger and hurt. "You should know by now, colonel, that a soul doesn't dictate a person's humanity!" he screamed, and with no more warning lunged at the startled man.

Roy tried to backpedal away from the angry homunculus, but the boy was too fast. Like a gold blur, Ed's homunculus was suddenly right in front of him. Roy didn't even have any time to put his hands up to defend himself before the boy caught him in the stomach with a brutal punch.

Mustang staggered backwards, gasping for breath and holding his stomach. Ed's homunculus once again was moving towards him, a frightening, murderous look smoldering his eyes. When the boy came within arms-reach, Mustang tried to aim a punch as his subordinate's double's face. His attack, however, was sloppy and the boy easily sidestepped it and delivered another strike to the colonel's stomach which sent him crashing backwards to the ground. His gun went flying out of his hands and skidded across the ground out of sight.

"Colonel!" Hawkeye's voice rang out.

Roy shakily forced himself to his knees, holding his stomach. His vision was blurry around the edges, his stomach throbbing with pain. He could barely find his breath enough to speak. "Stay back!" he somehow managed to yell, desperately motioning for Hawkeye to keep clear.

Mustang swayed as he forced himself to his feet to face the boy. He should have known not to try hand-to-hand fighting. Ed had always been skilled in that area of combat, and it appeared his homunculus was no different.

"Give up, colonel," Ed's homunculus hissed, his eyes narrowed into two angry slits. The barest hint of wind began to stir around him again. "Just go back to the surface and let me live the rest of my miserable life in peace."

"Never," Mustang gasped, still holding his injured stomach. "Not after what you did to Havoc, Tucker, and who knows who else."

The homunculus' already pained expression darkened, his eyes flashing as the faintest hint of vengeful tears filled the corners of his eyes. "You goddamn bastard," he hissed. "Why can't you just leave me alone?!" And then he rushed the colonel again.

Before Mustang could even move to defend himself, the homunculus was on him; wrapping his hand around the colonel's throat and squeezing, forcing the taller man to his knees. Roy uselessly thrashed in the homunculus' grip, clawing at the steel-like fingers suddenly wrapped around his windpipe. His already blurry vision began to fade out even more, spots of darkness now dancing across his vision.

"Why wouldn't you just listen to me?" the boy demanded as he stared into Roy's bulging eye, his lips curled away from his teeth in a pained-looking grimace of despair. "I gave you a chance to leave. Why didn't you just take it and leave me alone?"

But Roy couldn't answer. His lungs desperately screamed for air. He could feel his body growing sluggish and weak the more he struggled and thrashed. His eyelid suddenly felt heavy and unwilling to stay open… the ring of darkness tunneling his vision was steadily growing, bleeding across his vision like spilt ink…

_No… this wasn't how it was suppose to end,_ Roy's fading conscious screamed as his eyelid began to flutter, slowly sliding shut. _This wasn't how I was suppose to die…_

But just before the darkness could fully close in around him, a gunshot suddenly rang out, followed quickly by another.

The fingers around his throat suddenly disappeared. His body limply collapsed to the ground. As the gunshots continued to drum the air, Roy lay there in a disjointed haze of partial awareness.

The gunfire finally stopped and a presence rushed to his side, frantically shaking his shoulder.

"Colonel! Colonel!" It was Hawkeye. Even half conscious he'd recognize her voice anywhere. "Mustang, get up!"

The unfamiliar urgency in her voice seemed to startle him out of his daze. Shaking the lingering fuzziness from his head, Roy painfully pushed himself off the ground to sit.

"Where is it?" he rasped, wincing as his stomach gave a painful twinge. "Where's the homunculus?"

Hawkeye seemed too worried over Mustang to give an audible response and merely motioned with her chin towards something off to the side. Roy followed her gaze.

Ed's homunculus lay sprawled on the ground several yards away, his limbs jutting from his body at odd angles. The boy lay there motionless, no sign of life to be seen.

"What did you do to it?" Roy asked.

"I shot him between the eyes," Hawkeye replied, her voice slowly regaining its calm and collected tone. "I emptied an entire clip into him."

"I thought I told you to stay back," Roy wryly noted.

Hawkeye gave him a sharp look out of the corner of her eye. "I had to get him away from you somehow, Sir." She quickly slipped her hand underneath Mustang's arm to help him up. "We should try to get some distance from him before he wakes up. I tried to aim for all the vulnerable organs to immobilize him for as long as we can. We should have a couple of minutes at least."

Roy was about to nod and stand, but just then he saw one of the boy's arms twitch, like it'd been touched with an electrical charge. And as he and Hawkeye watched in horrified silence, Ed's homunculus slowly began to pick himself off the ground, glaring at them with ferocious gold eyes through a curtain of mussed bangs.

There was large hole in the middle of the boy's forehead, perfectly centered between his eyes, along with a number of other holes scattered across his stomach and chest. Roy watched in a morbid state of fascination as the end of Hawkeye's bullet reappeared between his eyes like a giant bead of metallic sweat and fell to the ground with a muffled _plink_. A small shower of bullets quickly followed from the rest of the homunculus' bullet-riddled body.

"You too, lieutenant?" Ed's homunculus hissed as he turned his molten gaze on the female sharpshooter. "I would have thought you of all people would have been smart enough to know when to cut your losses and run. You are being as stupid as the colonel."

His hands clenched into fists, Ed's homunculus began to stalk towards them, hateful wrath pouring from every pore of his body. But before he could get within several paces of them, a wave of crackling blue energy suddenly cut across the ground in front of him, halting him in his tracks as a series of transmuted spikes shot up out of the ground around him.

The homunculus' head whipped around towards the source of the attack.

Roy felt his heart clench in the middle of his chest, and wondered for a moment if he wasn't seeing some kind of strange optical illusion created by temporary oxygen deprivation. But no amount of blinking seemed able to erase the perplexing sight he beheld.

For standing there only several yards apart, staring at each other like two sides of an invisible giant mirror were the twin, identical images of the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric…

To Be Continued…

* * *

Good? Bad? Somewhere in between? Please tell me. I'll be honest, I've just had a pretty shitty week and feedback would really make my day right now. 

If you're wondering, Wrath hasn't been forgotten. He'll be back next chapter. And what an exciting chapter that'll be! We've finally come to it. The face off. The battle of the Eds. Hopefully next chapter won't take me as long to write as this one… (_sheepish grin_)

Please review! (I'll give Ed-shaped cookies!)


	13. Those Whom We Fight

Ed-shaped cookies for all my wonderful reviewers! You're awesome! It took me a while to get a new update out, but Life's been kicking my butt lately. And, unfortunately, I don't see any sign of aforementioned butt-kicking ending anytime soon… blah

_Warning_: some swearing (as usual)

**Chapter Thirteen: Those Whom We Fight**

For a moment all Ed could do was stare. He stood there motionless, frozen by the sight of the one staring back at him with those eerily familiar eyes. He felt like he was looking into some kind of mirror. Every facial feature and physical characteristic was the same. Every strand of hair, every imperfection, even the way the other boy seemed to hold himself as he stared back at him were the same as his own. Ed swore he could even sense the same waves of agitation he knew he himself would have been feeling if he'd just been interrupted mid-battle coming from the boy. The only thing he saw that set him apart from his eerie look-alike were the boy's matching flesh arms, and the dark red Ouroboros tattoo on his upper right arm that marked him as the product of an unsuccessful human transmutation.

His own homunculus…

He'd tried to prepare himself over the last few days for the inevitable confrontation between himself and his soulless incarnation. But somehow, standing there staring at his alchemy-born clone now, he couldn't come to terms with what he saw. It was just too disturbing to comprehend. The boy looked exactly like him! How was that physically possible? It just wasn't right.

His double slowly stepped away from the spikes of transmuted rock sticking out of the ground in front of him - Hawkeye and Mustang now completely forgotten - and began to move towards Ed, his footsteps slow, measured and tense. "So we finally meet," he said, his gold eyes boring into Ed's. Ed was unnerved by how familiar that voice really was. "So you're the one I was created to replace…"

"So it would seem…" Ed replied, warily eyeing the other as he too stepped forward. The two began to circle each other, their eyes never wavering from the other. "I didn't know what to think when they told me someone made a homunculus of me. For awhile I thought they were trying to play a trick on me."

"No," his double said, "I'm no trick. I'm as real as you are. Tucker made me exactly like you. The only difference between us is that everyone wants to kill me…"

Ed felt his skin break out in goosebumps. The underlying hurt and anger behind those words made his blood run cold.

"Is that why you killed Tucker?" he asked, still eyeing his double as he and the boy circled each other, sizing each other up. "You wanted revenge for him making you?"

"I suppose you could say that," the other replied, his voice devoid of emotion. "To him I was nothing but a tool - a dispensable means to an end. He didn't care about me or what would happen to me after he got his Philosopher's Stone. And because of what he made me into, I'm hated by everyone else."

"And that's why you attacked Havoc and were trying to kill Mustang just now?" Ed demanded.

Ed's double's eyes flashed, his features darkening. "I attacked Havoc because I wanted to send a message to the colonel that I wasn't going to die without a fight," he said. "And then when he ignored my warning and came down here to hunt me down like some kind of animal, I retaliated. Right now I'm doing nothing more than defending myself. You would've done the exact same thing."

"I wouldn't have attacked two innocent men," Ed shot back, anger rising in his voice. "You may look like me, but we're not the same. I wouldn't try to kill one of my friends."

"Even after you heard that 'friend' planning to kill you?" his double demanded, untold hurt shining in his eyes. "I even heard Al agree to the colonel's plans. How would you feel if your own brother wanted to kill you?"

Ed paused, the question hitting him like a physical blow. How _would_ he feel if Al ever betrayed him? Al was the only one who had ever truly mattered in his life. Ever since their earliest childhood, he remembered Al always being by his side. After their mother died, his brother had become like a solid anchor of support in an endless sea of hardship and suffering. Over the years they'd come to rely on each other in a way not many other people understood. Even though Ed liked to have people believe it was him that was the stronger of the two, he knew deep down it had always been his little brother that had held them together - both mentally and emotionally - through all the years spent searching for the Philosopher's Stone. He could safely say Al was the only person in the world he would give his life for without a second thought.

And then to hear him want to kill him?

It was almost too much for him to think about. Just the thought of it was enough to make a knot of queasiness form in the bottom of his stomach. What would he do if he ever heard Al planning to kill him? If this homunculus truly had his memories and remembered everything he and Al had gone through, then it was no wonder he felt so abandoned and betrayed.

But even then, despite all the painful thoughts conjured by this soulless incarnation of himself, it didn't change the facts of who - or rather what - he really was.

"Al's not your brother," Ed said, staring straight into his homunculus' eyes, "he's mine. And nothing you do is ever going to change that. I don't care what you heard, you have no excuse for what you did."

"It's so easy to pass judgment on me when you have no idea what it's like to have everyone you ever knew hate you for simply being what you are," his double said. His eyes shined wetly in the flickering flare-light above them. "I didn't ask Tucker to make me you know."

"I can understand that," Ed replied, "but that still doesn't justify what you did."

Ed's double's eyes narrowed, his already pained expression doubling. "You're just like him," he snarled. "You're just like that bastard Mustang. You humans come down here hunting me like some kind of rabid dog, stand there and tell me I have no right to exist, and then condemn me when I don't quietly concede to your 'solution.' How dare you! You're all nothing but hypocritical bastards! Why can't you just see me as a person?!"

And then, with angry tears shining in his eyes, Ed's homunculus lunged at him.

Without thinking Ed dropped to his knees, clapping his hands together and slamming them to the ground. Crackling blue energy filled the air as another series of transmuted spikes shot out of the ground between him and his enraged homunculus.

But before the transmutation could actually finish and the alchemic light disappear, Ed saw a whirlwind of energy spring to life around his homunculus; and like some kind of living alchemy-encased tornado, Ed's homunculus smashed the half-transmuted wall of spikes to pieces with the back of his fist.

Before Ed could fully comprehend what was happening, his homunculus crouched down and - mirroring Ed's earlier attack - pressed his hands to the ground.

Spikes of rock shot up out of the ground under the startled alchemist, knocking him backwards. As he scrambled back to his feet, Ed winced and clutched his left side. Blood seeped through the torn edges of his jacket. One of the spikes had grazed his side. Although he doubted it was anything life-threatening, he could feel the sticky warmth of blood seep through his glove onto his skin.

"Fullmetal!" Mustang's voice rang out from somewhere off to the side. "Be careful! That thing can manipulate alchemy attacks!"

"What?!" Ed shrieked.

"It can't actually do alchemy, but it can use our own attacks against us," the colonel yelled. "You have to refrain from using alchemy as much as you can."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Ed shouted.

His homunculus was staring at him, his eyes two slits of molten gold behind a curtain of mussed bang. He'd begun to slowly stand straight again. Every muscle in his body was tense, his expression closed and calculating like he was studying Ed's reaction for another opening to attack.

"So that's your special power," Ed murmured as he turned to face his double again, a strange sense of awe and fear washing over him. "You can alter alchemic reactions. I have to admit, I was kind of wondering what your power would be…"

"What's the matter?" his double hissed. "Surprised your own homunculus is capable of such a thing? I thought you would've been pleased. After all, it's the closest thing to alchemy a homunculus has ever been able to do as far as I know."

"You're a powerful homunculus, there's no doubt about that," Ed said, once again resuming his staring contest with his other self. The two began to circle each other again, each looking for an opening to attack. Ed knew he had to stall until he could think of some way to defeat this soulless incarnation of himself. With alchemy out of the question, he wasn't sure what else he could do except resort to hand-to-hand fighting. But for some reason he had a feeling that wouldn't really work either…

"So what's your name?" he asked, saying the first thing that came to mind, "Pride? You seem quite proud of your abilities, although I'm not really sure I like how that trait reflects back on me. Wrath, maybe? Greed? Gluttony? No… I may eat a lot, but I'm nowhere are bad as the real Gluttony."

"Shut up," Ed's double hissed. "I don't have a homunculus name. My name's Edward Elric, just like yours. I'm not some creature that needs to take a new name to try and give myself an identity. I already know who I am no matter what anybody else thinks."

"Well, the both of us can't be Edward Elric," Ed said. "People would get too confused." Ed swore he could see his homunculus' heckles literally rise. "So what is it? Wrath? Pride? Which do you like better?"

"I said _shut up_," his homunculus growled. Ed could feel an almost palpable wave of hatred come from his homunculus.

"How about I give you one?" Ed offered. He knew he was playing a dangerous game here. If it was anyone egging him on like this, he knew he would have beat them into a bloody pulp quite a while ago. By the look on his homunculus' face, it looked like he wasn't going to show much more restraint either. "I know Dante usually named you homunculi, but seeing as she's not around anymore-"

"I said shut up, you fucking bastard!" his homunculus roared, cutting him off. His eyes flashed with near mindless rage. That strange wind began to swirl around him again. "My name's Edward Elric and nothing else! I don't care if you like it or not. I'm not taking any other name!"

Ed knew that tone in his double's voice. There wasn't going to be any more stalling. The time for talking was over. There was now only the promise of battle. Clapping his hands together, Ed pressed his hand to his automail arm and transformed it into a deadly metal blade.

Then, as if in unspoken agreement, the two simultaneously charged each other, anger, energy and battle-lust thumping the air. And just before the two met in a titanic clash of swirling alchemic-like wind and transmuted metal, one last thought happened to cross Edward's mind:

_So this is how we finally come to it…_

* * *

Al ducked to the side as one of Envy's feet came flying at his head, just barely missing him. Rolling across the ground to put some distance between them, the alchemist nimbly leapt back to his feet. The shape-shifting homunculus might be able to move like a gymnast, but he'd been trained in martial arts and had yet to be beaten even by his older brother. Spinning around, Al aimed a kick at the homunculus' head. 

Envy dodged, but was still forced to leap backwards several feet from the alchemist.

A muffled clap sounded somewhere off to the side and a wave of crackling blue light raced towards Envy. Envy back-sprung to avoid the attack and whipped around towards its source.

"You're going to have to do better than that if you want to beat me," he said as Izumi stepped forward to face him. His lips curled into a disdainful snarl. "You're both just as pathetic as that Fullmetal-shrimp."

"You shouldn't call my brother names in front of me," Al said, his eyes narrowing at the long-haired homunculus. He sunk into a low ready-stance, his hands held up in front of his chest in the guard. "That'll only make me mad…"

"And what are you going to do if I don't stop?" Envy teased, smirking evilly. "You're not an empty suit of armor anymore. You're living flesh and blood. I could snap your neck in two if I wanted to. Wouldn't that be fun? The shrimp would probably have a mental breakdown if he saw me kill you. For such a foul-mouthed brat, he really is pathetically sentimental..."

"If you touch either of those boys, I'll kill you myself," Izumi said, stepping forward.

"Who are you again?" Envy snipped in annoyance, turning to truly regard Izumi for the first time since they'd begun fighting.

"I'm their teacher," the alchemist growled like a mother bear warning another predator to stay away from her cubs.

"Oh!" Envy crowed, his eyes lighting with sudden comprehension. His grin widened, sending a cold shiver down Al's spine. "You're Wrath's human mother, aren't you?"

Izumi froze, her eyes widening. "What?" she demanded. "How do you know that?"

"He told me about you," Envy replied, grinning at the thunder-struck look that blossomed across the alchemy teacher's face. "He said he came here to Central looking for you, but after he heard how everyone wanted to hunt down and kill the pipsqueak's homunculus and any other homunculi they found, he decided to join us. He seemed quite heartbroken when he realized he'd only get killed if he showed himself to any of you…"

Al glanced at his teacher out of the corner of his eye. She face was frighteningly pale, as if every drop of blood had just been drained from it. He couldn't say for sure, but he swore he saw Izumi begin to shake, as if she were struggling for control.

"He's here now?" she asked, her voice suddenly shaky and tinged with - what Al could only describe as - hope?

Envy grinned. "Yeah, somewhere. The brat's homunculus sent him to distract the other squads of soldiers. He should be somewhere else in the city right now."

Izumi didn't seem able to move. Her eyes were locked on the shape-shifting Sin, as if trying to decipher if he was really telling the truth or not.

Al quickly stepped forward. "Don't believe him, sensei. He tells nothing but lies. Don't let him fool you."

"Brat," Envy spat. "What do you know? How do you know I'm not telling the truth?" An evil glint entered Envy's eyes as he glanced at Izumi again, his face twisted with a malevolent smirk. Al couldn't help but be reminded of a cat toying with a captured mouse. "How can you really know for sure unless you go see for yourself?"

Al could see the warring emotions in his teacher's eyes.

"Sensei-" he began, but was cut off by a crackling explosion somewhere behind them.

Envy, Al and Izumi all spun around towards it. A strange wind had begun to blow across the underground square. Dust and bits of rocky debris were kicked up by the unnatural wind and hit their faces like tiny projectiles. Al shielded his face with the back of his arm and squinted into what appeared to be the eye of the unexplainable storm.

What he saw made his heart clench with dread, awe, surprise, fear and a million other emotions he couldn't immediately name or comprehend.

It was his brother and… his brother fighting! If it wasn't for the different clothes each image of Edward Elric was wearing, he would have sworn what he was seeing was some kind of optical illusion.

His brother was currently locked in hand-to-hand combat with his homunculus self. Each seemed to anticipate the other's moves and spun, ducked, dodged and attacked in perfect harmony, as if all of it was some kind of choreographed dance. But Al knew it wasn't. What he was seeing was no dance, but rather a fierce battle that paled in comparison to any other fight he'd ever seen before. Because he knew this battle, no matter who won, wouldn't have a happy ending.

"The shrimps are fighting," Envy noted, his expression one of stunned surprise before morphing into a malicious, ear-splitting grin. "This I have to see for myself!" He glanced at Izumi and Al with an off-handed sneer. "I'll come back and finish you two later," he growled and leapt onto a nearby pile of rubble. "Some things in life are just too good to pass up, and this one's one of them." Then springing onto the nearest building, Envy disappeared from sight behind the building's crumbling roofline.

Al looked back in the direction of his brother and Ed's homunculus. Ed's double was attacking with unrelenting fury while Ed himself fought just as fiercely. Even from a distance Al could tell each of the homunculus' punches and kicks were aimed with the deadliest accuracy in hopes of inflicting the greatest damage. Somehow his brother always remained half a step ahead though. Each fists was parried, each kick skillfully blocked.

But Al wasn't sure how much longer his brother would be able to keep fighting with such intensity. He hadn't forgotten his brother's injuries from the day before or the fact that the homunculus he was fighting had an almost unlimited reserve of energy. Even though both possessed the same level of skill and fighting prowess, there was no denying his brother's homunculus had the upper hand in that he could just last the battle until he finally wore his opponent out, and then-

It was not a thought Alphonse Elric even wanted to contemplate. He only just got his real brother back. He didn't want to lose Ed again, and this time possibly for good.

"I have to go help Brother!" he yelled, barely sparring Izumi a parting glance before he was racing across the rubble-strewn plaza towards his brother and sibling homunculus.

His alchemy teacher made no move to stop him. Her eyes were distant as she stared after him as if she were really looking at something a million miles away or something only she could see in the farthest reaches of her mind. Finally blinking them into focus she looked over her shoulder towards the darkened warren of streets that led out of the square into other parts of the city. There was a strange look in her eyes - one that was hesitant, heartbroken, desperate and hopeful all at the same time.

Then with no more hesitation she took off, disappearing into the twisted maze of streets to find the one Envy said she might somehow find…

* * *

Ed ducked to the side as his homunculus' fists flew past his face barely inches from his right ear. Spinning away, Ed tried to aim a kick at his double's exposed ribs. But the soulless boy was too fast and twisted out of range at the last moment. 

Wind whipped around his homunculus clone, like he was the center of some kind of mini hurricane. Ed could feel his skin prickle from the storm of uncontrolled energy. His body was beginning to slow. He wasn't used to fighting like this. He'd really let himself get out of shape those three years spent on the other side of the Gate. The base of his left leg was beginning to throb, sending stinging waves of pain up and down his thigh with every step. Sweat beaded across his forehead and down his face in tiny rivulets. His breathing was coming in shorter and shorter gasps.

His homunculus seemed to sense his human counterpart was beginning to tire and lunged at Ed, pressing his attack. He still had yet to show any signs of fatigue, Ed sourly noted.

Ed parried a bone-shuddering punch away with his automail. His arm's metal casing and internal gears groaned under the pressure. As much as he didn't want to admit it, his homunculus had a mean right-hook, and an eerie ability to know exactly how he was going to attack before he actually did.

He really didn't like fighting with himself. If he wasn't in such a precarious situation he might have almost been proud of his double's fighting abilities. (After all, those moves had to be inherited from _someone…_) But being the one currently trying to evade his homunculus' attacks and keep himself from getting killed, any pride he might have had was ultimately crushed. He didn't really like the idea of getting beaten or killed by someone who was essentially himself.

Spinning, Ed slashed the blade of his transmuted automail at his homunculus' face. He felt the sharpened tip make contact and saw a deep gash appear across his double's cheek. His homunculus glared at him, purplish-red blood seeping from the cut. With a shimmery wave of light, the wound healed itself before Ed's eyes.

"Just give up," his homunculus hissed, wiping the remnants of blood from his cheek with the back of his hand. "You can't beat me. Mustang and Hawkeye already tried shooting me. Nothing you do is going to kill me that easily."

"I've defeated other homunculi before you," Ed replied, narrowing his eyes at the blond Sin. He kept his transmuted automail warily held up in front of him. "Just because you can alter alchemy attacks doesn't mean you're invincible."

"You're just as cocky as that bastard colonel," his homunculus said. "You're all so sure you can kill me."

"Don't think that just because you look like me that's going to influence how I fight," Ed shot back. "I was able to kill my own mother's homunculus. So dealing with you will be no more difficult."

Ed's double nodded solemnly. "I know how you defeated Sloth," he murmured, his shadowed gold eyes staring straight into Ed's as if haunted by that same memory. "But when I say I doubt your ability to kill me, I'm not talking about you being stopped by your own hesitation, affections, or morals. I mean I doubt your actual capability to bring me down." As he spoke, the soulless boy began to stalk towards Ed again, waves of dark intent radiating off him. "Because you still don't know the full extent of my powers…"

Ed hurriedly tried to backpedal as the soulless boy lunged at him. He instinctively raised his automail arm to defend himself. But instead of meeting Ed's automail with the bone-rattling jar of a clenched fist, the boy instead grabbed it and held onto Ed's prosthetic limb.

Ed's eyes snapped up to his homunculus's, surprise and incomprehension flashing through them. The boy just stared back at him, his face devoid of emotion.

The wind surrounding the boy began to spin faster, tugging at Ed's clothes and hair. The startled alchemist tried to wrench his arm out of the Sin's grasp, but it was too strong to break. A crackling aura of light suddenly encased Ed's automail-

And as Ed watched in shocked disbelief, saw the transmuted blade of his arm revert back to its normal automail form.

Too startled to do anything more than stare, Ed was only shocked out of his daze when his homunculus' fist suddenly caught him in the stomach, sending him flying backwards several yards. He hit the ground hard and lay there in a half-curled ball, clutching his stomach. Dark spots danced across his vision. He coughed weakly and tasted blood.

Blinking his eyes back into focus, Ed painfully forced himself up off the ground. His stomach throbbed with the movement. He had a sinking suspicion that some of the ribs he'd only bruised the day before while fighting Envy were now officially broken. Surely even Armstrong couldn't punch that hard!

Ed coughed as he turned to face his homunculus double again, gasping for breath. "You- you can de-transmute completed alchemy reactions," he gasped almost accusingly. He stared at the soulless boy in a numb sort of horrified shock. "How is that possible?"

"I told you you didn't know the full extent of my powers," the boy emptily replied.

Forcing himself to stand straight despite his still-aching stomach, Ed shrugged his red coat off and threw it to the side. The tattered, dirt-smeared remains of his left glove soon followed, leaving him in almost the exact same attire as his clone.

"I see now that you really mean business," he said, bringing both his hands up and sinking into a battle stance. "I'll admit, you're going to be harder to defeat than I was originally expecting. But I mean business too, and I'm not going to let you beat me that easily either. This is going to end now."

For the first time since meeting his soulless twin, a flicker of emotion besides wrathful vengeance or hurt flashed across the boy's face-

And his double grinned in dark anticipation.

To Be Continued…

I'm sorry to stop in such an odd place, but the chapter was starting to get a little too long, and I decided to cut it in half. More fighting and bloodshed next chapter, I promise!

Review?


	14. Those Whom We Chase

So after a year's hiatus, I finally found time to write the next chapter. I joined the Air Force this past January, but got hurt during basic training and ended up spending two months in medical hold. During that time I sat there getting paid to do literally _nothing_ I occupied myself with picking up where I left off on this story and managed to finish this chapter and half of the next/final one. Hope there're still people out there reading this. If not… well, at least I have the personal satisfaction of knowing I was finally able to finish this story.

**Chapter Fourteen: Those Whom We Chase**

Ed wasn't sure who moved first: him or his homunculus. All he knew was that within the blink of an eye he was once again locked in deadly combat with his alchemy-born clone. The two moved in near perfect harmony - lunging, ducking, punching, kicking as if it was all really some kind of choreographed dance. Somehow through the haze of battle lust Ed was once again taken aback by how similar his homunculus' fighting techniques were to his own. It reminded him of that old saying that one's worst enemy was always oneself.

His homunculus suddenly came at him with a vicious left hook, intent on smashing his face backwards into his skull. Reacting almost on pure instincts, Ed parried the bone-crushing blow away from him with his automail arm. The limb's internal gears and springs groaned under the pressure. Ed grit his teeth at the inhuman show of strength - the base of his right shoulder tingling uncomfortably in the wake of the shuddering blow - and lunged at his double with his own attack. Dropping into a crouch, his leg shot out to sweep the other's legs out from under him.

But the golden-haired Sin was too fast. Twisting quickly to the side, Ed's homunculus backpedaled half a dozen feet away, giving both him and Ed a momentary pause to recoup and formulate a new attack plan. The soulless boy stood in a tense fighting stance and stared at Ed with fiery gold eyes that seemed to literally glow in the flickering glare of the flares still hovering several hundred feet above them in the air. The air around him swirled and churned with an unnatural, cyclonic wind - the outward manifestation of his homunculus power which could reverse and copy any alchemic attack that came within range. The same exact ability that had already de-transmuted the blade-like forearm plate of Ed's automail back to its normal shape…

Ed held his double's gaze undaunted as he turned to face his homunculus again. In almost the exact mirror image of his soulless clone, he sunk into a low fighting stance.

Breathing heavily from their short but intense clash, Ed silently cursed in his head. His homunculus was too fast and too strong for him to keep fighting like this. He knew he wouldn't be able to last much longer if he didn't find some way to turn the tide of battle back in his favor. Homunculi were blessed with near inexhaustible strength and stamina, and Ed knew he was still out of shape from years spent on the other side of the Gate studying to find a way back home to Amestris. He also knew that if it wasn't for the slight advantage of his artificial arm, he would have probably already been killed some time ago. The flesh around the base of his automail still tingled from fending off his double's attacks. He just wished he could transmute it into an actual weapon. But his homunculus had already proven his ability to take away one of Ed's most reliable weapons by de-transmuting it; not to mention the fact Ed could no longer use alchemy attacks for fear of them instantly being turned around and used against himself.

He realized with a strong sinking feeling that he was slowly being pushed more and more onto the defensive…

"Tired?" his double called out to him with a nasty smirk.

"You wish," Ed snarled. As much as it galled him to admit it, he knew his chances of winning were slim to none. At least not while there were still any Red Stones in his double's gut to give him an unlimited source of power and lives. At the most, all he could really do was stall until he could think of some way to defeat his clone.

Or, until his homunculus finally overpowered and killed him…

Ed and the other boy slowly began to circle each other, their eyes locked in an intense staring match. Ed dared not take his eyes off his double for a second. Because an instant was all it would take for the other boy to see an opening and attack.

Despite his intent focus on his soulless half, however, Ed was still aware of two familiar presences standing just on the edge of his peripheral vision. Mustang and Hawkeye stood together anxiously watching his and his homunculus as if debating whether or not to enter the fight. Ed knew they wouldn't though. Mustang knew better than to try and interfere in battles that weren't his own. It was one of the colonel's few redeeming qualities in Ed's opinion. Hawkeye, meanwhile, restlessly gripped the handle of her gun. But with an empty clip and no more ammunition, the female sharpshooter was about as powerless against Tucker's alchemic creation as Ed himself.

Behind them, several hundred feet away, major Armstrong and their remaining squad of soldiers were still locked in combat with Gluttony. Ed didn't know where Al and Izumi were. He hadn't seen any sign of them since they'd broken away from the rest of the group to fight Envy. Ed just hoped nothing had happened to Al while he'd been fighting. Because if something happened to his little brother Ed wasn't sure what he'd do…

As Ed and his double continued to circle, sizing each other up, Ed flexed the knuckles of both his metal and flesh hands. Every particle of his being hummed with the thrill of battle. Never had he faced an opponent as skilled and deadly as his own clone. Despite the intensity and danger of his current situation Ed nevertheless felt a thrill of excitement go through him at the prospective challenge. It was a feeling he hadn't experienced in quite some time.

Hauntingly familiar gold eyes seemed to stare straight down into him before with only the tiniest of movements to betray his intentions and warn Ed, the soulless boy lunged at him for a second assault. Ed barely had time to dodge to the side before his clone's fist swiped the air right where his head had been barely a second before. Growling fiercely, Ed's double swung around and came at him with another swing. Ed's automail rattled with the force of the blow.

Staggering backwards, the young alchemist barely had time to bring his metal arm up as a shield before his clone was once again on top of him, his fists pounding against his only form of defense like the ocean relentlessly crashing against the shore. Fighting now completely on the defensive, Ed dared not try to make an attack of his own in retaliation. Because he knew if he did it would only give his double an opening to attack. And then it would only be a matter of time before he was overwhelmed by the sheer speed and strength of his homunculus and taken permanently out of battle…

Like a shark smelling blood in the water, his clone seemed to sense Ed's weariness and growing desperation and came at him with renewed intensity. Ed didn't even have time to parry one fist away before his double's other suddenly snuck under his guard and caught him full in the stomach, sending him crashing to the rubble-strewn ground. Ed lay there in a jumbled heap, coughing and gasping for air even as he struggled to roll back up onto his feet.

"Just give up," his soulless half said as he came to stand over Ed. He stared down at him with empty, emotionless gold eyes. "It's useless to keep fighting like this. We both know how this is going to end for both of us."

"Screw you," Ed spat. His automail arm wrapped protectively across his throbbing stomach, he clawed at the rocky ground with his other hand and painfully pulled himself up to his knees, then slowly up to his feet. His legs shook dangerously underneath him, but he willed himself to ignore his injuries and bone-deep exhaustion to straighten and fully face his soulless twin.

"This isn't over yet," he growled. "I'm not about to let some cheap copy of me win."

The other boy's eyes narrowed, his lips contorting into an ugly snarl. "Cheap copy?" he hissed. His eyes flashed molten gold in the dancing phosphorescent glow of the flares overhead. "I'm so sick of you people talking about me like I'm some kind of inanimate object that can't think or feel, or some kind of animal that needs to be destroyed. I may not have a soul but I'm still exactly the same as you. I have your thoughts, your emotions, your memories. The only thing that differentiates you and me is something that isn't tangible or can even be proven by science to actually exist. If you ask me, it's you humans that are the problem, not us homunculi! You alchemists let your egos and own selfish desires run wild and delude yourselves into thinking you can play god. But when the product of your experiments doesn't fit into your idealistic view of the world you immediately judge it as evil or a sin against nature - something that must be destroyed because you can't understand it or even begin to _try_! You would rather exterminate all us homunculi like sweeping a dirty little secret away under the rug than ever actually have to deal with the full magnitude of our existence!"

"You're not telling me anything I haven't heard before," Ed coldly replied. "But no matter how wronged you feel, it still doesn't change the fact you killed a helpless man in cold blood and tried to kill another. If I know nothing else about you, those facts alone tell me you have to be stopped at all costs."

"You bastard…" his double hissed. The unnatural cyclonic wind surrounding him suddenly increased in intensity, whipping the air around him like a miniature tempest directly dueled by the Sin's boiling inner rage. He glared at Ed with enough hatred to kill. His face was a near inhuman mask of hurt, anger, resentment and betrayal while clenched fists shook by his sides.

With an almost animalistic cry of rage, he charged Ed, killing intent rolling off him in palpable waves. The young alchemist scrambled to defend himself but the homunculus was on him before he could even take a step backwards in surprise. Ed's automail shuddered under the force of his clone's first blow. Again and again fists smashed against forged steel, slowly hammering away at Ed's only form of defense.

As his homunculus continued to push his attack - steadily overwhelming Ed with his near mindless, uncontrolled, unrelenting anger - Ed could feel himself slowly succumbing to the onslaught. He shoulder where the metal places and wires of his prosthetic arm attached to the rest of his body had long since gone numb from fending off the Sin's constant blows. He now had to steady his metal limb up with his other hand to keep it from faltering under the deadly assault. Sweat poured down the sides of his face and arms and soaked his tank top to his back despite having already tossed his jacket and gloves off to the side some time ago.

After having already survived a close encounter with cultist Nazis, sacrificing his father to cross through the Gate back home to Amestris, battling a giant snake-like Envy, and descending the long, winding stairs back down to the hidden underground necropolis all within the last seventy-two hours with barely four hours of sleep, Ed knew his was quickly nearing the end of his physical limits.

With a sudden brutal kick, Ed's homunculus snuck past his guard and sent him flying backwards to the ground. Ed's body skid across the rocky debris and rubble like a thrown rag doll until he finally slammed to a bone-breaking halt against the remains of a crumbling building front and collapsed into a broken heap at its base. Ed didn't even try to stifle the scream of pain that erupted from his mouth upon impact. He lay there motionless in a huddled ball, unable to move and barely able to breathe. His side where his other half's foot had caught him felt like one massive throbbing would. He could feel several ribs grind against each other with every shallow breath he took. The entire length of his spine burned like a thick trail of fire where he'd collided with the unforgiving brick wall. Just trying to shift himself up off the ground to slump against the dilapidated building sent excruciating bolts of pain shooting through his entire body. It was only with a supreme force of will and his stubborn sense of pride not to lay down in defeat that Ed managed to pull himself up enough to watch his soulless clone slowly stalk towards him like a predator closing in for the kill.

"Cheap copy am I?" the boy called as he drew near and finally came to a stop half a dozen paces from where Ed. He stared down at him coldly, the hatred and hurt in his eyes burning like a smoldering fire. The edges of his clothes and hair danced in the swirling vortex of wind that surrounded him. "For being such a cheap replacement, I seem to be a major improvement over my _perfect_ original."

"I never realized before now how annoying I am when I gloat," Ed dryly quipped from the ground. "I'll have to remember to stop doing that from now on."

The corners of his double's lips twisted downwards in an annoyed scowl. A dangerous gleam sparked in the back of his eyes as his fists unconsciously clenched open and close by his sides. "You're not going to have to worry about breaking yourself of that little habit," he said with a growl, "because you're not going to be alive much longer to have time to."

Despite the gravity of the situation, despite the fact he knew he didn't have the strength to fight anymore, Ed have an empty, mirthless laugh. "Yeah, I guess I wouldn't," he said. "I just never thought I'd someday die like this - basically by my own hands. It makes me wonder if this would be considered homicide or suicide…"

"We never get to choose our fate," the Sin emptily replied. "It's all just a matter of chance what lives we're made to suffer…"

For the briefest moment, Ed saw in his mirror image's eyes all the suffering and pain the other boy spoke of - all the emptiness, sadness and hurt. But then like blinking himself out of a trance the look disappeared from his eyes, replaced once again by anger, resentment and wrath.

"This ends now," he said. "Goodbye…"

Then drawing one fist back, the soulless boy kicked off the ground, speeding towards Ed to deliver the final fatal blow.

Edward sat there motionless, strangely detached from the entire scene as if he were really watching death rush towards him from outside him own body. Battered and sore, he was just too tired to care anymore how this really ended.

His Sin seemed to move towards him in slow motion, as if suspended in a world that moved at only a fraction of the speed of Ed's own. As he closed within the last dozen feet of him, Ed could feel the sting of dirt and bits of rocky debris kicked up by his clone's inhuman power against his face. He could actually feel his skin prickle from the energy-charged wind that whipped the air the other boy was so close to him now. His homunculus' fist was drawn back in a punch, its trajectory aimed directly at his chest. It began to swing towards him, ready to punch its way through his ribcage like punching through a flimsy cardboard box.

But before Ed's double could cover the last few feet still separating him from his helpless victim, Ed suddenly saw out of the corner of his eye a red-clothed figure appear and leap directly into the blond Sin's path - shielding Ed with his own body.

"No!" the figure managed to cry just before the soulless boy's fist made contact with human flesh, but not Ed's own…

The figure went flying, sailing several dozen feet through the air before finally crashing to the ground with a sickening crunch. It rolled once, twice over the rocky ground before finally coming to a jerky halt and laying there motionless. It was only then that Ed realized the identity of his unexpected savior, and felt his stomach curdle with ice.

Long dishwater blond hair tied back in a messy ponytail lay fanned across the ground beneath his savior's head. A dirty red coat embossed with the stylized image of a winged serpent winding around a pointed cross covered the crumpled body of a young teenage boy no older that fourteen years old.

"Al..?" Ed whispered, his voice small and weak with shock. As he continued to stare at the motionless body of his little brother the world which had seemed to come to a grinding halt the moment Al went flying to the ground suddenly seemed to speed up again, rattling Ed would of his horrified daze. "_Al!!"_

His previous weariness and pain now completely forgotten, Ed scrambled to his feet and was at his brother's side in an instant. "Al?! Al, answer me!" he frantically called as he rolled his brother onto his back. Panic the likes of which he'd never felt before clogged his throat like acidic tar as he took in the younger alchemist's injuries. Blood poured down the side of his brother's face from a shallow gash on his left temple. Al groaned low in the back of his throat as Ed gently shifted his upper body off the ground to lean against his chest. "Al?" he continued to call. "Al, speak to me!"

With another groan, Al's eyes weakly fluttered open. "Brother?" he coughed, obviously in pain. "Are you okay?"

Ed could barely believe his ears. "Am I okay?" he snapped in disbelief. "I should be asking you if _you're_ okay. What were you thinking jumping in front of me like that?"

But Al ignored his second question. "My side…" he murmured, unconsciously wincing as he held his right side. "I think I broke a rib." Gingerly leaning away from his older brother, Al glanced around Ed and stared. Unsure of what had captured his brother's attention, Ed turned to follow Al's gaze - and found himself staring back into the eyes of his own homunculus.

The boy stood several yards away staring at them, unmoving and stiff. His eyes were wide with shock, his face etched with a sickened look of horror. He seemed frozen in place, his hands hanging limp by his sides as if he couldn't comprehend the scene he beheld. His mouth fell open as though trying to speak but no sound actually came out.

As Ed knelt there beside his brother staring at Tucker's soulless creation, an intense hatred began to build inside him, licking and eating away at his insides until it felt like his very skin burned with fire. His vision swam red. His pulse pounded in his ears. His entire body veritably shook with rage.

That bastard… He hurt Al. It was one thing to attack him, but it was a completely different thing to attack his little brother. No one, _no one_, hurt his little brother and got away with it. Not as long as Edward Elric was around to mete out retribution.

Ed suddenly no longer felt tired or weak. He no longer felt the pain of his injuries or the fatigue of his battered body. It was as if seeing his little brother struck down had given him an unforeseen surge of energy. Leaping to his feel, he wheeled around to face the other boy, both his hands clenched into shaking fists and his teeth bared in a livid snarl.

"You bastard!" he roared and launched himself at his soulless twin.

The other boy hardly even seemed to be aware of Ed's attack until Ed's automail fist connected with the side of his face, spinning his head halfway around. The Sin staggered backwards, dazed by the blow, but strangely did not try to retaliate with an attack of his own. Ed didn't care though. All he wanted to do right then was smash his double's face inside out and tear him limb from limb, destroying any and all resemblance the other boy had to himself.

"You monster!" he screamed, charging the boy again in a near mindless storm of rage. "That bastard colonel was right! You really are just like every other homunculus! I can't believe I actually thought for one second you might somehow be different from the rest of them! You're nothing but a soulless monster!"

The other boy did not respond. The strange, alchemic wind that had surrounded him barely minutes before was now nowhere to be seen. As if in a trance he dazedly struggled to evade Ed's attacks, yet did not try to make any kind of counterattack. No longer even trying to fight he moved completely on the defensive - ducking, dodging, backpedaling, but never fighting back. Somehow his homunculus' sudden apathy made Ed even angrier.

"Fight me, you bastard!" he yelled, darting forward to take a swing at the other's face. The blond Sin ducked to the side, just barely missing the angry blow. "Come on, fight me! You were so ready to hurt Al, so why not me? Come on and fight, you coward!"

When this still did not receive any kind of reaction from his alchemy-born clone, Ed finally could take no more and angrily lunged forward to grab the other boy by the front of his shirt. Fisting the black material in a tiny ball with his metal hand, Ed cocked his other hand back over his shoulder in a tight fist. Then, with all his might, he drove his fist into the other boy's face, relishing the way the cartilage in the Sin's nose made a satisfying crunch beneath his bare knuckles.

The boy went flying backwards. He hit the ground hard and lay there motionless with all four limbs splayed out from him and bent at odd angles. But instead of collecting himself and rising again like Ed expected him to, the soulless boy remained where he lay. It took a moment for the battle lust to drain away from Ed's senses enough for him to realize the other wasn't getting up, and then another moment for him to realize why.

The Sin lay on his back staring up at the underground necropolis' jagged stone sky, his eyes wide and bulging almost bug-like from his head. His breathing was labored and shallow, as if he suddenly could no longer breathe. As Ed stared in morbid fascination a violent tremor shook the homunculus' entire body, as if he'd just been shocked by an intense electrical charge. Limbs twitched uncontrollably against the ground while muscles seized and released in rapid succession.

Ed was so startled by this unexpected fit that he barely moved when several moments later the twitching finally stopped and his homunculus weakly lay there gasping for air on the ground. The boy slowly rolled onto his side before shakily pushing himself to his feet. Staggering slightly as he forced himself to stand, the Sin turned to stare in Ed's direction. No longer was there any hint of wrath or anger in his eyes, but instead a startled expression of confusion and fear.

Slowly backing away from Ed like an animal sizing up a dangerous predator, the boy broke eye contact with Ed just long enough to steal a furtive glance in Al's direction where the younger Elric brother still sat on the uneven ground holding his injured side. For a split second his eyes softened, flooding with a look of such heartbreak and regret that Ed felt his hatred for Tucker's failed transmutation momentarily waver. The boy glanced back at him. Then turning swiftly on his heels he took off in the opposite direction.

"Gluttony, come!" he yelled over his shoulder as he bounded across the rubble-strewn plaza towards the darkened warren of surrounding streets. "This fight's over. Retreat and fall back to the safe house."

Gluttony paused and looked up from his own battle with Armstrong and the remaining handful of soldiers. With a disappointed whine he released the soldier whose arm he'd been about to bite and took off after the retreating Sin. Moving faster and more agile than any creature his size should be able, he sped away, disappearing into the city's pitch-black sides streets just as quickly as he'd first appeared.

Left in the wake of the homunculi's sudden retreat, Ed could do nothing more than stare in the direction his double had vanished like a wraith into the darkness, confused and left to wonder what he'd just witnessed really meant…

* * *

The rapid staccato of gunfire drummed the air as Wrath deftly leapt and somersaulted amongst the scattered squad of soldiers. They were a small dispatchment, probably a scout party sent off from the main group to try and weed out the location of their elusive homunculi targets. It was ironic, Wrath thought as he darted forward to disarm on the other men with a well placed kick, that while the colonel had sent these men to search for him and his fellow homunculi, it had been _him_ that found _them_ first.

He'd been playing with these men for some time now. While the soldiers fought with expected tenacity and purpose, Wrath merely dodged and sprang among them, creating general confusion and panic but otherwise really doing nothing more than toying with them. Earlier, before he and his fellow Sins had separated to meet their unwelcome guests, Ed had given him the task of cutting off any group of potential reinforcements from rejoining the main contingent of troops and to stall them for as long as possible. He wanted to meet his other half with as few distractions as possible, the golden-haired Sin had said in an empty, emotionless voice.

And so Wrath had, but now found himself becoming bored with the whole endeavor. These humans were slow and stupid, giving him absolutely no challenge as he easily scattered them and diverted their attention away from the real battle that was probably already taking place in another section of the city if the flares burning overhead and muted patter of distant gunfire was any indication.

Spinning in place, Wrath knocked the rifle out of one startled soldier's hand and dispatched him from battle with another well-aimed kick to the head. Several of the man's comrades immediately took aim at him and opened fire. The homunculus child was too fast however for such conventional means of attack and twisted almost lazily to the side to cartwheel away. A trail of bullets sunk harmlessly into the ground in his wake.

Deciding he was becoming bored with the currently flow of battle, Wrath decided to lead the soldiers on a little wild goose chase. Maybe it would make things more interesting. Turning towards the nearest side street that ran off the crumbling boulevard he'd ambushed the unsuspecting group of soldiers, he darted into the inky gloom of the necropolis. Just as expected, the men hurried to follow - probably assuming they'd somehow gained the upper hand and had him on the run. As if… These humans were such idiots…

For the better part of a mile, Wrath wove a confusing, zigzag maze through the decrepit back streets. If he'd wanted to he could have easily thrown his pursuers off his trail. But that would have defeated the whole purpose of him being out there in the first place. So instead Wrath kept his pace purposely slow, running just fast enough to keep the men within constant eyesight of him. At most he only let them get within thirty feet of him - just close enough to let them think they may eventually catch him, but far enough away to ensure they never would. Several bullets zipped by him as he ran but never came anywhere close to actually hitting him.

With a mischievous grin, Wrath veered into yet another street - this one slightly wider than the previous one he'd traveled. Behind him around the corner the men's inarticulate shouted echoed through the canyon of decaying buildings like the angry brays of pursuing bloodhounds. Despite himself, Wrath found himself enjoying this little farce of a hunt. Ever since meeting up with Edward Elric's homunculus clone, he'd noticed himself falling back to how he'd been when Dante had still been alive to lead their little band of homunculi. It was just easier, he found, to treat all humans as faceless, nameless aggressors - as enemies to him and his kind - instead of being forced to acknowledge the inalienable fact he could never be one of them or earn their acceptance or love. Becoming a mindless being of hate was just so much easier and less painful. Following Ed's orders gave him a distraction from the constant, ever-present ache in his heart and at least momentary respite from being reminded of why he'd come back to Central in the first place - about who he'd come there searching for.

It helped him forget about _her_…

The muffled echo of the soldiers was getting closer. Within seconds they'd appear around the corner and follow him into the new street and their chase would continue. Wrath expectantly glanced back over his shoulder to watch them appear. The elongated shadows of running figures bounced up and down on the ground at the lip of the street, coming ever closer.

But before the humanoid outlines could materialize into actual human beings, a muffled clap followed seconds later by a crackling wave of blue alchemic light suddenly sprang up from the ground at the intersection of the two adjacent streets and solidified into a towering stone wall that spanned the entire space between the last two buildings, effectively closing off the second street from the first as if there had never been anything there but a sudden dead end. From the other side of the wall Wrath heard the garbled shouts of confused men. They paused for a moment on the other side of the wall, shouting amongst themselves, before finally moving on to continue their chase after the fleeing homunculus boy.

Wrath froze and spun around in place, his fighting instincts on full alert. He knew that type of light. He knew what kind of people were capable of making a solid stone wall appear out of nowhere.

There was an alchemist somewhere nearby…

But as Wrath whipped around to face his mysterious attacker - his entire body humming with anticipation for battle - he froze at the sight of the one he saw standing before him several dozen feet away cutting off his only route of escape from the blocked street.

It was a woman. Tall and pale, her black hair pulled back from her face in hundreds of tiny braids, she stood there staring at him motionlessly, her eyes filled with an intense look Wrath could never hope to analyze or accurately describe. It was a look that spoke of pain, of happiness, of uncertainty, fear, hope, regret, and a sadness that was so long-felt and intense it had sunk so deep into the marrow of one's bones it had become a part of that person's very being where it could never be fully exorcised. Wrath felt frozen under the woman's unnerving gaze. At first all he could feel and think when he turned to first see the female alchemist was shock. But the longer he stood there - him and the woman staring at each other in mutual unbroken silence - Wrath felt tendrils of confusion, anxiety and… fear begin to worm their way through the numb haze of surprise clouding his mind before slowly spreading to the rest of his body. He knew this woman. How could he possibly forget her face? It was for her he'd come back to Central to find. Her he saw every night in his dreams and whose love for her dead child had been the catalyst for his own unholy creation.

"Mama..?" he whispered in a strangled voice, surprise and apprehension at her unexpected appearance stealing anything else he might have said.

"Wrath," Izumi whispered in reply. She took several hesitant steps closer to him.

"What do you want?" Wrath demanded, taking just as many steps backwards. No matter what his motives for originally setting out for Central had been, he didn't trust this woman. No matter how much he wanted her to be his mother, she was still human, and he had seen firsthand how fast humans were to turn against the clones of their deceased loved ones - how quick they were to want to see the products of their failed transmutations destroyed. The soulless incarnation of Edward Elric was proof enough of that.

"I came to find you," Izumi answered. A look of hurt flashed through her eyes at Wrath's obvious distrust. "I heard that you were here. I came to see if it was true."

Wrath glared at his suspiciously. "What's it to you?" he growled. "I know you're here with the Elric brothers and that colonel. You came down here hunting homunculi. You want to kill us."

"No," Izumi said, shaking her head emphatically. She held her hands beseechingly out towards him. She held his eyes almost desperately with her own as if begging him to listen. Tears shined brightly in the corners of her eyes. "No, I came down here to stop the colonel. I wanted to stop him from doing anything stupid."

"I don't believe you!" Wrath shouted, gritting his teeth against the unbidden sting of tears in the corners of his eyes at Izumi's words. "You tried to kill me - _twice_! First when you gave me back to the Gate as a baby and then when you took me to that deserted island."

"I know! And I'm sorry!" Izumi cried, her eyes now impossibly bright and shiny although no tears actually fell to wet her cheeks. "I was stupid and selfish! I see that now. You never deserved to be abandoned or betrayed like that. It's because of me you've had to suffer so much." She stretched her hands out towards him pleadingly. "Please," she begged in a tiny voice, "forgive me. I should have fought harder for you. I should have done more to keep you safe. A mother should never abandon her child like I did. Please, forgive me…"

For a moment Wrath could barely breathe. Izumi's words had hit something deep inside him. Something inspiring and warm yet incredibly painful at the same time. She'd called him her child. She'd acknowledged him as a part of her. She'd called herself his mother. She didn't see him as some kind of cheap replacement for her lost child and had asked him for forgiveness.

But could he really trust her? Despite how much he desperately longed to run into her outstretched arms - something he'd only pictured in his loneliest, most fanciful dreams - how was he to know this all wasn't really some kind of trick by the colonel and the ones hunting him? How was he to know if what she said was really true?

As if reading the uncertainty on the young homunculus' face, Izumi took another step towards him, her arms pleadingly held out towards him. Wrath this time did not take any steps away from her.

"Please," she said, now openly begging. "Come with me. I'll protect you from the colonel. I won't let him or anyone else hurt you. I'll die before I ever let that happen again. I swear."

Wrath hesitated, still unsure. He felt torn by indecision, split between his loyalty to Ed and his fellow homunculi and his own selfish desire to finally know the warmth of a mother's love. As Izumi took another tentative step towards him he felt his resolve begin to waver. Wasn't this scene playing out before him exactly what he'd come to Central hoping to experience? Wasn't this the reunion he'd dreamed of for almost as long as he could remember? Wasn't this what he'd always ever wanted?

So then why, he asked himself, was he hesitating?

But before the homunculus child could finish sorting out his warring emotions, another figure suddenly appeared - leaping down from the surrounding roofline to land beside him with the same silent, effortless grace of a cat.

"Envy?" he stammered in surprise at the other Sin's sudden appearance.

"Come on, brat," the shape-shifter said. "The blond pipsqueak's called a retreat. We're all falling back to the safe house."

"What?" Wrath stuttered.

Envy's features contorted into an angry scowl, his lips curling away from his teeth in an ugly sneer. "You heard me: the brat's given up the fight. He was fighting the other shorty but then just suddenly stopped and ran off with Gluttony. That bastard… I was having fun watching him beat the crap out of that other Fullmetal shrimp. If it wasn't for Hohenheim's other bastard kid he probably would have finished the brat off for good too. But now that he's gone there's no point in sticking around."

"But…" Wrath hesitated, glancing in Izumi's direction. "I don't want to go back to the safe house."

Envy followed the younger homunculus' gaze and only then seemed to realize the female alchemist's presence there with them. His eyes narrowed. His expression darkened. "You again?" he snarled, turning to fully face her. He glanced between her and Wrath. "So I see you managed to find each other after all."

"He's coming with me," Izumi said, meeting the shape-shifter's glare undaunted and returned it with one of her own. Her voice was as hard as sharpened steel and brooked no room for argument.

"Like hell he is," Envy growled. He began to stalk towards her in slow, measured, threatening steps. "You lost your chance with him. He belongs to us now."

"Over my dead body," Izumi hissed, sinking into a fighting stance.

"Have it your way," Envy replied.

"No!" Wrath cried, jumping in front of the other Sin. "Leave her alone! I won't let you hurt her!"

"Out of the way, you annoying little brat," Envy snarled and dodged around Wrath to rush Izumi faster than Wrath could follow with his eyes. Izumi seemed just as startled by Envy's speed and barely had time to raise her arms in defense before the shape-shifter's fist caught her in the gut and sent her flying into a nearby building.

Izumi hit the wall with a crunch and slid down it until she came to rest in a jumbled heap at its base. Coughing violently, a gush of bright red erupted from her mouth which she tried to cover with her hand.

"Mama!" Wrath cried. Even in the inky gloom of the underground city his mother's blood gleamed an almost unnaturally bright shade of scarlet. It oozed between her fingers and down the sides of her mouth. Izumi stubbornly tried to pull herself to her feet and stand, but before she could even rise to her knees her legs gave out from under her and she collapsed back to the ground, coughing violently.

Wrath stared in horror, unable to comprehend the horrible scene.

Envy was moving towards Izumi, his eyes gleaming with an almost maniacal look of bloodlust. Wrath had seen that look before on the shape-shifting Sin - had even been the target of Envy's volatile spats of madness several times himself - and knew if he didn't somehow intervene his mother would not survive. Wrath knew of Izumi's illness, of how easily she could be weakened despite her outward strength and aggressive personality. Surely traveling down from the surface to the underground city could not have done anything for her health, let alone just being thrown into a brick wall by a half-crazed homunculus. He had to do something or his mother, who he'd only just been reunited with, would die before he ever even got the chance to know her.

"No!" Wrath cried, leaping at Envy's turned back. "I'm not going to let you hurt her!" With one hand he grabbed the older homunculus by the arm and spun him around to face him, and with his other he smashed his fist into Envy's face with all his strength. The shape-shifter staggered backwards from the blow but did not fall. Instead he stood there hunchbacked as he recovered, glaring at Wrath from beneath a curtain of long greenish hair. A thin trail of purple blood dripped from one nostril. Envy gingerly dabbed at it with one finger and glanced down to stare at the smeared evidence of Wrath's assault. His eyes darted back up to spear Wrath with a poisonous glare.

"You little bastard…" Envy growled low in the back of his throat. His eyes flashed murder as his face slowly warped into an expression so hateful and insane it no longer even looked human. He slowly straightened, danger radiating off him in almost tangible waves.

Wrath took an unconscious step back from the other homunculus, sensing Envy's threatening aura. Envy began to stalk towards him, his body tense and eyes burning with demonic fire.

"You too?" he growled, his voice dangerously low. "You want to go against me too like that little shrimp's double? Well, let me tell you something: I'm not going to stand it anymore. I'm tired of you little pieces of shit thinking you have the authority or power to tell me what to do. All this ends right here and now!"

Like a green and black blur Envy lunged at Wrath, once again moving too fast for the younger homunculus to stand a chance against. If there was one area of combat Envy had an advantage over Wrath it was speed and experience, and he used both of them to their fullest. With a vicious uppercut he pummeled his fist into Wrath's exposed stomach. The homunculus boy jackknifed forward, doubling over himself at the waist. Pain shot through his midsection. Bursts of white exploded like fireworks before his eyes. He felt as though his stomach had just been turned inside out and rammed flat against his spine. Bile burned the back of his throat, but miraculously he didn't throw up. Or at least he was sure he wasn't going to until Envy's other fist came around half a second later and connected with his jaw with enough force that it would have decapitated a normal human being.

Wrath's head violently snapped around over his shoulder. The metallic taste of blood flooded his mouth. A foot shot out and buried itself in Wrath's left side. A dull crunch like snapped kindling echoed through his body all the way up to his ears. Another merciless kick and he was suddenly flying, sailing weightlessly through the air until his body was brought to a swift and incredibly painful halt by something hard, unforgiving and cold.

In a hazy detached sort of way Wrath realized it was one of the many buildings lining the deserted street he'd collided with. The decaying masonry gave way almost immediately under him and crumbled inwards. It's superstructure now completely compromised by the gaping hole in it's front façade, the dilapidated building front began to collapse, raining bricks and time-decayed mortar down on the homunculus boy. And just before the thundering roar of crumbling stone drowned out any other sound and an avalanche of dirt and rocks swallowed him in its crushing black embrace, the last thing Wrath saw was Izumi staring at him from where she sat in a broken heap on the other side of the street - her eyes two pools of shock and utter horror. But before Wrath could analyze that look in his mother's eyes, it was lost to sight behind a rocky curtain of inky darkness.

And then, there was nothing…

* * *

As Wrath disappeared behind a waterfall of crumbling masonry and stone Izumi felt as though her heart had just shriveled into a tiny ball somewhere in the center of her chest. For a moment she let the initial shock convince her what she saw wasn't really true, that it couldn't possibly be real. But as the last few bits of debris settled into a rocky heap at the base of the now frontless house - the soft patter of rock on rock echoing eerily through the suffocating sea of silence of the necropolis - the reality of the scene seemed to crash down on her like a physical thousand pound weight.

"No…" she weakly murmured, ignoring the pain in her body as she shakily forced herself to stand as she stared wide-eyed and disbelieving at the giant pile of crumbled stonework Wrath had disappeared underneath. She had to steady herself against the wall behind her to keep from sagging back to the ground. "No…"

"Pathetic little brat…" Envy's voice echoed through Izumi's horrified daze. The shape-shifter stood a short distance away from here, admiring his handiwork with a satisfied smirk. A faint gleam of lingering madness shined brightly in his eyes. He turned to glance at her. "Good riddance if you ask me. He was completely worthless. I should have known from the beginning his love for you humans had made him soft. Him and that pipsqueak's double are exactly the same."

Izumi could think of nothing to say in response. What _could_ she say? Her child has just disappeared - once again!- before her eyes while she'd sat there unable to do anything to protect him.

Envy watched Izumi's thoughts flash across her face in a wild kaleidoscope of painfully raw emotions. He grinned in satisfaction. "Too bad too," he smirked. "It looks like you would have actually taken him back…" Then turning swiftly on his heels, the long-haired Sin disappeared into the surrounding darkness of the city just as quickly and silently as he'd arrived, leaving Izumi to stare at the pile of stone her homunculus child lay buried underneath. For several moments she stood there motionless, unable to move. But then as if snapping herself out of some kind of daze, she sprang to life and rushed towards the half demolished building.

She reached the pile of debris and plunged her hands into the soupy mess of rocks, mortar and splintered stone. Dust hung thick over the area like a gritty cloud of smoke. It clogged her nostrils and covered her face in a fine film of dirt, but she ignored it as she began to frantically dig through the rocky mess, shifting aside dirt and boulders alike with nothing but her bare hands.

_No, please not again. I can't lose another one of my children,_ her mind pleaded in frantic denial as she worked. _Not again. Not like this. Not now. Please don't let me lose him again…_

But no matter how much debris she moved aside she saw no sign of her missing child…

* * *

Sergeant Kane Fuery's face was streaked with dirt and grim. His usually tidy hair was ruffled and stuck out from his head in odd little tufts. The soft-spoken communications officer's glasses were bent and sat crooked on his nose, giving him a bedraggled, dazed appearance like that of a man who'd just survived the deepest circle of hell. He knelt on the round beside a small field radio with a set of overlarge headphones straddling his head. For several minutes he played with the radio's dials and knobs. The muffled hiss of static leaked from the headphones.

Finally, with a frustrated shake of his head, Fuery removed the headphones and looked up at Mustang with a helpless look. "I'm sorry, Sir," he said, "but I can't reach any of the other search parties. It may be I can't get a good enough signal to radio them on a short-wave frequency. Or it might be because they had their own run-ins with the homunculi, in which case…" He trailed off uncomfortably, the unpleasant possibilities hanging unspoken in the air.

Mustang nodded gravely. Like Fuery, he too realized the possible meaning of the other search parties' sudden loss of communication. As much as he didn't want to admit it, coming down to the underground city to try and flush out their homunculi targets had been a bad idea - both from a tactical military standpoint and what should have been plain old common sense. They'd been caught off guard traveling in unknown territory with little topographical intelligence. All they'd set out with was Ed's own limited knowledge of the necropolis' layout, and even then Mustang realized with a bitter drop in his stomach, he'd went ahead and pushed for a full frontal assault and ignored practically all of the younger alchemist's misgivings and warnings. He knew now what Ed had meant when he'd said trying to hunt down his soulless half was a foolish course of action. They'd gone into battle blind and uninformed. And now they were running around blind in the dark; battered, demoralized and their forces scattered to the four corners of the decaying city.

Around Mustang the battered remains of his main contingent of troops sat here and there in huddled circles tending to the wounded and regrouping themselves. To his right and left Hawkeye, a shamelessly half-nude major Armstrong, the two Elric brothers and the remnants of his personal staff stood in a loose circle around Fuery and the radio - all of them looking more than a little rough for wear, bruised and weary. Over nine in his immediate squad of soldiers had been killed in their short but intense clash with the tiny group of homunculi. Many more were injured - several having lost entire limbs to the rapacious Sin, Gluttony - while who knew how many other men in the other search parties were hurt or dead or currently under attack with no means of communicating to call for backup. All in all, the mission had been a complete disaster. Just as Ed had said, the homunculi had anticipated their attack and made a devastating preemptive strike on them, ultimately turning the supposed hunters into the prey.

The colonel was man enough to admit he'd made a serious miscalculation by letting his own personal feelings dictate his course of action. He saw all of that clearly now. He'd done exactly what Hawkeye had warned him against but been too stubborn to acknowledge at the time. But that didn't mean he was about to let his past mistakes keep him from doing what he needed to do now to prevent anymore of his men from being unnecessarily injured or killed.

"Fulman, Breda," he said, glancing at the two, "I want you two to oversee getting all the dead and wounded back to the surface. Take half the remaining able-bodied troops to help you. The other half will be split up to look for the missing squads still searching the city and call an immediate withdrawal. Major Armstrong, Hawkeye and myself will lead them. Sergeant Fuery, keep trying to reach them on the radio. Maybe you'll be able to get someone. Once all have been found fall back to Central Headquarters to regroup."

"And what about the homunculi?" Ed angrily spoke up. His voice echoed loudly through the plaza and down the surrounding streets into the distance until it was finally swallowed by the unnerving silence of the necropolis. "What, we're just letting them get away? What kind of messed up plan is that?"

Mustang remained calm in the face of the shorter alchemist's wrath. "Our forces have been severely weakened, Fullmetal. We have no choice but to retreat, regroup and come up with a new plan. The homunculi have too much of an advantage down here. If we try to engage them again, it will only end in disaster. They are too strong to take on in open battle like this."

"That's what I tried to tell you from the beginning but you wouldn't listen to me!" Ed shot back, his eyes flashing with irritation and open anger. Mustang chose to ignore the truthful sting of Ed's words. "It was your idea to come down here in the first place and now you just want to give up and go back?!"

"As I've already explained," Roy said in a carefully composed voice - like that of a parent speaking to a particularly petulant child, "we no longer have the manpower needed to take these creatures on in open combat. Out best course of action is to retreat and figure out a new strategy and then go from there."

"But they could get away by then!" Ed snarled. "I'm not going to let that bastard get away. Not after what he did to Al."

"Brother…" the younger Elric brother plaintively whispered from Ed's side, trying to forestall one of his brother's infamous bursts of anger.

Ed ignored him. His attention was wholly focused on the colonel. "That bastard attacked Al. He could have killed him! If he was really anything like me he never would have done that."

"But it was an accident," Al pleadingly pointed out. "He didn't mean to do it, and I wasn't hurt that badly." No one chose to point out the bloody length of cloth wrapped around the alchemist's head and tied off over the seaping gash above his left eye.

Ed, however, was too worked up to listen to anything his younger brother might have said. "I want him tracked down and dead," he snarled through gritted teeth. "I'm not going to let him get away. Not after what I saw him do."

Mustang was taken aback by the venom in his subordinate's voice. For originally being so opposed to the colonel's plan to hunt down his soulless half and destroy it, it was startling how quickly the hot-headed teen's opinion had changed. But then again, Roy had seen the way Al had been struck down by the blond Sin. And if there was one thing to be said about the Fullmetal Alchemist it was that he was violently protective of his younger brother.

"What I want to know," Breda ventured, "is if we _do_ decide to go after those homunculi again, how are we going to fight them? Not all of us are alchemists, and we've already seen how useless bullets are against them. We'd just have a repeat of what just happened."

"I agree," Armstrong nodded sagely from the back of the group. "Even with alchemy and all my strength, that large homunculi proved to be more of an adversary than I expected."

"Not to mention the fact Edward's homunculus can use an alchemist's own attacks against him," Hawkeye said, her eyes darting pointedly between the colonel and Ed. "He's extremely powerful and dangerous."

"But then why did he leave?" Fuery timidly spoke up from where he still knelt beside the radio in the center of the group. "He had all of us against the ropes but then suddenly ran away."

"It almost looked like he was spooked by something," Fulman noted.

"He left because Brother touched him," Al said. Everyone glanced at him with mixed expressions.

Ed quirked his head at his younger brother questioningly. "What are you talking about, Al? Of _course_ I touched him. We were fighting and I couldn't use any alchemy attacks against him. I _had_ to fight hand to hand."

"No," Al said, shaking his head. "You were fighting him with your automail. It was only after I got hurt that you actually touched him with your real body. Didn't you see the way he froze and suddenly startled shaking when you did? It was exactly like what happens when homunculi are exposed to the remains of whoever they were made after."

A deafening silence fell over the group, Al's words echoing loudly through the empty sound vacuum left by his unforeseen revelation. Everyone stared at the young alchemist.

"But…" Ed said, openly taken aback by this, "that doesn't make any sense. Homunculi freeze whenever they get anywhere near their original half's remains. Why would he have reacted like that _after_ we'd been fighting for so long? If what you're saying is true and he somehow reacts like that around me, then why didn't he freeze before we ever even started fighting?"

"It's because you actually _touched_ it," Mustang blurted out before anyone else could offer their own explanation. He felt a flush of understanding wash over him, like a mental puzzle piece clicking into place. He met Ed's eyes and held them, willing the teenage prodigy to follow his train of thought. "It makes perfect sense. Homunculi react like that whenever they're close to the bones or whatever else remains of their original half. But Fullmetal's homunculus wasn't created after a dead person; Fullmetal was still alive. Tucker's creation is different and more powerful than any other homunculus we've ever encountered, so it's possible it might have some kind of immunity to that weakness since its creation was so different from every other homunculus'. But since Fullmetal is still the closest thing to it's original's remains, Fullmetal must have to actually _touch_ it to induce that type of freezing. That would explain why it reacted so violently to Fullmetal touching it."

Ed stared at him, a look of dawning comprehension lighting his dirt-smeared face. "You're right," he murmured. He glanced from Mustang to his brother then around to scan the faces of everyone else. "He's right. My homunculus only reacted when I actually touched him." As understanding settled in, the alchemist's features slowly hardened, a look of calculated resolve darkening his eyes. "We can use this," he said, glancing quickly back at Mustang. "If what you're saying is true, I can use that to seal him. All I need to do is touch him and while he's incapacitated we can use that time to remove any Red Stones sensei fed him. He'd be completely vulnerable after that."

Ed speared Roy with a razor-sharp glare, his eyes flashing alchemized gold in the inky gloom. "We have them on the run. If we wait much longer they could slip away. But if we hurry we might still be able to track them and find out where they're hiding. It's now or never, Mustang."

Roy knew what Ed was asking of him, what he was silently demanding in no uncertain terms. But for once Mustang was willing to oblige the younger alchemist's demands, because for the first time he acknowledged the fact that if any of them wanted to see an end to this, one way or another, it would only come about from one last deciding clash between Ed and Tucker's unholy creation.

"Fine, Fullmetal," he said in a carefully schooled voice. "We move out in ten minutes…"

To Be Continued…

Review?


	15. Those Whom We Leave

Okay, so my update was a little later in coming than expected. Let's just say Life's been really busy lately and Writer's Block sucks. I never realized how much I missed writing until I finally forced myself to sit down and finish this chapter.

We're in the home stretch, kiddies. Enjoy.

**Chapter Fifteen: Those Whom We Leave**

Ed stumbled blindly into the safe house, barely even aware of where he was going. His was breathing hard, his mind awhirl with a thousand different thoughts. As he staggered deeper into the house's gloomy interior he accidentally bumped into an old end table sitting off to one side of the room. The wooden table wobbled uncertainly for a moment before toppling over to the floor with a crash. A cloud of dust billowed up from between the warped floorboards beneath it.

The young homunculus, however, didn't even notice. His thoughts were too much a confused, jumbled whirlwind for him to focus on such a trivial thing. All he could think about was what happened - the terrible thing he'd done…

_I hurt Al…_ the horrified chant echoed again and again through his mind. _I hit him. My own brother. I almost killed him. I hurt Al…_

In his mind's eye he could still see Al looking up at him from where he'd fallen to the ground, his eyes two bottomless gray pools of surprise and shock, as if he couldn't believe what'd just happened. Ed felt his stomach twist at the memory of Al staring at him like that. A wave of nausea burned the back of his throat. His brother had looked so taken aback, so shocked as if he were silently asking him, _Why? How could you do that to me?_

Ed blindly spun on his heels and frantically began pacing back and forth if only to alleviate some of the panicked, restless energy coursing through his veins. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't exorcise that single image of Al's startled face from his mind. It was as if it'd been permanently seared into his memory, like a scar.

How could he do that? How could he strike his little brother? He was exactly what his original self and the colonel kept calling him: a monster… Because nothing but a monster would let his hatred and rage blind him to the point that he'd let himself lash out and injure his own flesh and blood.

Ed frantically spun and paced; back and forth, back and forth, unable to find any relief from his horrified thoughts.

_They were right, _his mind raged. _They were right about me from the very beginning. I really am just like every other homunculus. I'm no better than a heartless monster…_

So caught up in his panicked fit the blond Sin didn't even notice Gluttony lumber into the room and plop down on the floor on the other side of the room, out of Ed's way. The large homunculus watched Ed restlessly pace and whined softly under his breath, distressed by the other's agitation.

For an unknown length of time - seconds, minutes, hours?- the scene remained the same with only the rhythmic thump of Ed's boots to break the otherwise complete silence of the house. Then, with no warning, the door to the room suddenly flew open - striking the adjacent wall with a thunderous bang that shook the entire house - before Envy stormed through the doorway half a second later.

"Just what the hell was that about back there?!" he snarled, instantly coming at Ed like an angry viper. "I was having fun watching you and the other pipsqueak beat the shit out of each other. Why the hell did you leave? You were about to finally finish that annoying little brat off!"

Ed, however, either chose to ignore the other Sin or didn't even hear him through the hellish storm of thoughts filling his mind. He didn't even pause in his restless pacing as he turned on his heels to retrace his steps yet again.

Envy angrily grit his teeth at the other's dismissal. Stalking towards the preoccupied boy he grabbed Ed by the arm and spun him around to face him. "I asked you a question, shortie! Why'd you leave?"

Ed wrenched his arm from Envy's grip and side stepped the other homunculus to continue his rhythmic track. "Leave me alone," he said. "It's none of your business. It doesn't matter anymore. This fight's over."

The dark-haired Sin's eyes flashed, an annoyed snarl curling his upper lip. "What do you mean this fight's over?" he hissed. "Those humans were as good as dead until you decided to just suddenly give up and leave."

"There's no reason to fight anymore," Ed replied, his voice distracted and empty. "This was all a mistake. We should have never provoked them. There's nothing left for us to fight for anymore. The only thing left for us to do is retreat."

Ed looked up and emptily scanned the tiny group of homunculi. "Where's Wrath?" he asked, only then noticing the smaller boy's absence. "Didn't he know to retreat?"

Envy gave a contemptuous snort. "I got rid of him. He let his feelings for that pathetic woman that created him cloud his judgment and turn him soft. He wasn't going to be any more use to us so I took care of him. Permanently…"

Ed stared at Envy, a feeling of intense disgust washing over him at the shape-shifter's casual, almost prideful declaration. Shaking his head, he hung his head, suddenly feeling very tired and disillusioned with the world, himself and life.

"We truly are despicable creatures…" he whispered, more to himself than anyone else there. "No wonder humans hate us so much. _I _hate us. Homunculi truly are the living embodiment of all mankind's sins…" He slowly lifted his head to emptily stare at Envy. "Do whatever you want to do from now on, Envy, but I'm done. There's nothing left for me here. Go ahead and keep fighting if that's what you want to do. Keep fighting until you have no one left to hate or be angry with. Keep killing until it finally gives you the happiness you're looking for, but you and I both know it never will. I see now homunculi aren't meant to have happy endings. All we have to live for is our own misery and pain. So I'm giving up the fight and leaving. I'm not going to force the shame of my existence on anymore people." Then turning his back on the other Sin, he began to trudge towards the door, his shoulders hunched and head bowed with the heartache of understanding and grim acceptance.

But Envy wasn't about to have any of it. With unforeseen speed he lunged at Ed and grabbed him by the arm. His fingers dug painfully into the blood-red Ouroboros tattoo that branded him as the product of an unsuccessful human transmutation. "You're not going anywhere," the shape-shifter growled as he spun the younger Sin around and leaned down so that he and Ed stood nose to nose. Ed could see in Envy's eyes the fiery gleam of insane anger that so characterized the other homunculus burning like a smoldering fire ready to burst into open flames at any moment. "You started this fight, so now you're going to finish it. I'm tired of you brats having these sudden bouts of feelings for humans and deciding to spare them when any one of them would kill us in a heartbeat. You're just like that pathetic piece of crap Wrath!"

"I don't care!" Ed cried, viciously ripping his limb free from the other Sin's grasp. "I don't care what you say, this whole twisted little game is _over!_ I'm not hurting any more people. I'm done! I'm finished! They win! This ends here and now!"

Envy's eyes narrowed dangerously, flashing murder. "Not if I have anything to say about it," he snarled. "For once you're going to listen to _me!_"

"You leave them alone, Envy," Ed growled. "If you go anywhere near Al or any of the others I swear I'll make sure it's the last thing you ever do." He felt the air around him stir and begin to slowly churn as a swell of righteous anger rose inside him at Envy's threat. The wind tugged at his hair and clothes, gradually gaining speed and strength at he stared down the other Sin. Ed let the zephyric power engulf him. His skin prickled not uncomfortably from the swirling vortex of raw energy. Electricity crackled the air. Although certainly not normal by any human standards, it felt natural to him, this strange wind. It was a manifestation of all his thoughts, emotions and pain. It was his strength, his weapon, his curse, his homunculus birthright.

And he'd be damned it he wasn't going to use it to keep Envy from going on some murderous rampage…

Envy eyed him warily, but the other Sin did not back down. Gritting his teeth, the shape-shifter rose to his full height over Ed, his body language radiating danger. His eyes glowed with murderous intent.

Ed clenched his fists, ready to meet whatever attack Envy came at him with. He knew it had only been a matter of time before Envy finally refused to obey him anymore and rebelled. Across the room Gluttony gave a plaintive, frightened whine.

But before either Ed or Envy could rush each other, the entire room suddenly exploded into a spinning void of flames, shattered glass, crumbling stone and ear-shattering noise. Blistering heat surrounded him like a fiery cocoon. Flames licked at his hair and skin. For several moments which seemed to stretch out forever Ed felt weightless, as if he was free falling through the very fabric of space. But the sensation did not last; for with a bone-shuddering jolt he collided with the ground. Or was it a wall? He didn't know. All he knew for sure was that whatever it was was hard and unforgiving and that it _hurt_. Following closely on the heels of that initial jolt came a shower of rocks and debris which seemed to fall on him like a deluge of gritty rain.

Ed lay there motionless, trying to recover his bearings. Slowly, the pain receded to a manageable enough level for the blond Sin to regain his senses and assess what'd just happened. He was laying on his side, half-buried under a thick blanket of rocky debris. Gingerly uncurling his limbs from around himself Ed pushed himself to his feet, staggering slightly as he straightened.

The building that had served as their safe house was now a gutted shell. Only three of its outer walls still stood. The entire front was gone, reduced to nothing but a scorched pile of rubble. A thick cloud of dust hung over the area. For a moment Ed just stared at the destruction, unable to understand what'd just happened. But just then a voice rang out, startling the homunculus out of his shock.

"You didn't really think we were just going to let you run away, did you? You and I still have unfinished business."

Ed entire body tensed. Slowly turning, he was unsurprised to find himself staring back into the fiery gold eyes of his original self - the very boy Tucker had created him to replace through forbidden alchemy. The original Edward Elric stood several dozen paces away from him and the demolished house. Behind the alchemist in a wide, sweeping arch that spanned the entire street and cut off either lane of escape stood at least two full squads of soldiers, all of them with their rifles aimed directly at the blond Sin. Heading the military contingent stood the impressive if not slightly battle-roughed image of the Flame Alchemist, accompanied by Hawkeye, Armstrong and the rest of the colonel's remaining personal staff. Ed now knew the one responsible for the firebomb that had destroyed the safe house. Only one of Mustang's trademark flame attacks could have done that much damage…

As Ed continued to scan the opposing wall of troops his eyes happened to fall on one last figure hiding behind the rest of military personnel. Taking in the familiar red coat and mussed dishwater-blond hair, Ed's heart clenched into a painful point in the center of his chest.

_Al…_

"You thought you could just run away from me, did you?" the real Edward Elric's voice startled the heartsick Sin out of his thoughts. He slowly took several threatening steps towards him. "You really thought I wasn't going to come after you after what you did to Al?"

Ed winced in remembrance, his stomach turning at the memory of shocked hurt in Al's eyes as he'd stared up at him from the ground. "Of course not," he softly whispered, dipping his head behind a curtain of long blond bangs in shame. "I had a feeling you'd try to follow me…"

"Why'd you run?" the alchemist demanded. There was no hint of sympathy or room for forgiveness anywhere in his voice. Just ice cold steel like his counterpart's alchemist-name implied.

"Because I see now there's no reason to fight anymore," Ed emptily replied. He pointedly kept his eyes adverted from meeting his human double's. He couldn't bear to see the hatred and contempt in them for the unforgivable crime he despised himself for committing. "I'm giving up. You win. I'm not going to bother you or anyone else again. Just leave me alone so I can leave and live the rest of my miserable life in peace."

"You're not getting out of this that easily," the other boy spat. "I haven't forgotten what you did to Havoc and Tucker. Not to mention _Al!_"

"What happened to Al was an accident!" Ed angrily cried. "I would never attack my own brother!"

"He's not your brother!" his double screamed. "Stop trying to pretend you're me!"

Ed's hands clenched into two frustrated balls by his sides, his entire body shaking with helpless fury. "I'm not pretending! These feelings are too real to be pretend! Al may not be my real brother, but I have the memories of him being my brother. Tucker created me with the same memories as you. So even if those memories and the feelings that come with them aren't really mine they're still real to _me!_"

The Fullmetal Alchemist roughly shook his head, as if trying to shoo Ed's words from his ears like he would a pesky fly. "I don't want to hear anymore of your lies or excuses!" he said, spearing Ed with a hateful glare. "You're just like every other homunculus. And just like every other homunculus I've met I'm going to stop you once and for all!"

Just like he did after Ed accidentally struck Al after the younger boy has jumped in between him and his older brother, the alchemist came at him, his automail transmuted into a deadly metal blade. And just like before, Ed couldn't find it in himself to try and fight back. Because everything his human half had said was true: he _was_ like every other homunculus. His own actions had proved it. No matter if it was an accident, no matter if he hadn't meant to do it, he'd still struck Al - the only person he felt any sort of true connection to despite the painful truth of their blood relation. How could anything but a soulless monster do something like that to who - in all intents and purposes in Ed's mind - was his own flesh and blood? He didn't deserve to defend himself from his human self's wrath when everything he said was so horribly, painfully true…

Moving as if on autopilot, Ed quickly backpedaled to evade the alchemist's first attack. He raised his arms in defense and dodged and ducked in accordance to his double's punches and kicks - expertly fending off the bone-shuddering blows - but did nothing to go on the offensive himself. He just couldn't find the energy or will to do so. Everything he'd been fighting for, everything he thought he could do to ease the pain of his hatred and rejection had disintegrated, slipping like sand through his fingers into nothing. He had nothing left to fight for. Like a soldier without a war he no longer had any purpose or plan - only an intense feeling of emptiness and loss even though he'd never actually had anything to hold onto to begin with. It was a sad and dangerous thing how self-delusion gave one the strength to go on. How it gave the glimmer of false hope that somehow, just maybe, he'd turn his fate around and gain what he so desperately wanted if he just kept fighting for it.

Ed saw now what a fool he'd been. He'd been fighting a hopeless battle from the very beginning. He couldn't change what he was or make others overlook the disgrace of his creation any more than Tucker could bring his daughter back from the dead. It almost made Ed wish Mustang had been able to overcome his nostalgic affections and just kill him that fateful night of his creation. It would have just been so much easier that way. So much less painful. And not just for him but for everyone else involved as well. For what place did the soulless bi-product of a madman's futile hopes and dreams have in a world as cruel and unforgiving as theirs?

His human self suddenly came at him with a vicious right hook, forcing Ed to duck and scramble backwards to gain some distance from the enraged alchemist. None of the soldiers or the colonel's personal entourage had made any move to join the Fullmetal Alchemist in his fight. Like spectators in some ancient gladiatorial death match they hung back and watched from the sidelines, as if waiting for some kind of cue. Together he and his human self traced a complex course through the rocky debris of the demolished safe house - Ed constantly pressed backwards by the alchemist' relentless attacks. It was impressive how hard the other boy fought considering the beating he'd taken at Ed's hands no more than three quarters of an hour before.

His double's automail hammered again and again at his raised forearms, pounding at his defenses like a medieval battering ram. A foot snapped out, ready to bury itself in his exposed side but Ed deftly twisted away just in time - the tip of his human self's boot grazing the edge of his shirt. The alchemist rounded on him, his prosthetic arm cocked back in a fist. Ed braced himself to take the blow with the back of his forearm. But just before any contact was made, the other boy suddenly pulled off the attack and shot his other hand out instead. Before Ed could understand what was happening, his double's flesh hand wrapped around his upraised wrist - and the world suddenly seemed to stop.

Ed's entire body froze. His muscles instantly locked as if seized by rigor mortis. His mind halted mid-thought as if suspended in a hazy fog that felt like some kind of surreal dream. As if watching a movie play out from the back of his skull, Ed felt himself pitch forward and fall to his knees almost as if in slow motion. He barely felt the pain of his knees hitting the rocky ground. All he was aware of was the hand wrapped around his wrist, of flesh fingers clamped around his pulse point like five miniature vices of cold hard steel. Air suddenly seemed like a luxury he was no longer able to afford. No matter how hard he tried his lungs refused to expand and draw air, nor could he force his frozen body to break the invisible bonds holding him captive.

As he knelt there motionless and vulnerable a blue light rose from the ground and surrounded him in an unnatural otherworldly glow. Without warning a bolt of white hot searing pain shot through his body. Ed's ears rang with the silent scream of agony that was muted by his constricted throat. His stomach clenched in his gut, unable to endure the pain. And then, with nothing to lessen the violence of the reaction, Ed lurched forward and spewed the contents of his stomach out in a wave of phlegmy vomit and walnut-sized transparent red rocks.

For several minutes Ed continued to heave and choke, his stomach turning over and over despite having already purged itself of all the Red Stones Izumi has fed him the night of his creation. They lay before him in a balmy pile, shining wetly in the murky gloom.

The supernatural blue light surrounding him faded away and the vice-like fingers disappeared from his wrist. Like a diver breaking the surface after a long submersion Ed drew a shaky drag of air, once again able to move. Too weak to move let alone stand, Ed continued to kneel there, his entire body shaking violently. His limbs felt unnaturally heavy and weak, his muscles completely powerless as if they'd all been replaced with overcooked noodles.

Shivering uncontrollably, Ed glanced to the side and for the first time noticed the intricate chalk lines crossing back and forth over each other across the rubble-strewn ground in the design of a giant alchemy array. A sinking feeling of realization settled over Ed as he stared at the complex transmutation circle. He didn't need to be told what kind of array those lines formed. He remembered through the transplanted memories of his other self it as being the same array the real Edward Elric had used to seal not only Greed, but also the homunculus version of his mother and now, ironically, himself. It was the only transmutation circle known that could force homunculi to expel the ingested source of their power and numerous lives.

His other self and Mustang must have planned this trap from the beginning before they firebombed the safe house to draw him out. Looking back now Ed realized what his human double had really been doing as he's attacked and driven him back: he'd been steadily herding him to this spot to catch him in this array. It had been an ingenious plan that had played out perfectly. One Ed should have seen from the beginning but had been too preoccupied with his own thoughts and melancholy to realize what the alchemist had been up to.

Glancing towards the far line of troops, Ed knowingly met the heart-sickened gaze of Alphonse Elric who knelt on the very edge of the alchemy array staring back at him, his hands pressed against the outermost ring. He should have known… That was why Al had been hanging back from the rest of the colonel's troops. He'd been waiting for his real brother to draw him into the transmutation circle so he could activate it and catch him inside.

He should have known…

A pair of heavy black combat boots suddenly stepped into Ed's line of vision, startling the young homunculus out of his thoughts. Gathering what little remaining strength he had, he tilted his head up to look at the boot-owner's face. Like the towering statue of some ancient god of retribution Edward Elric stared down at him with fiery cold eyes. The alchemist's features were hard but etched with a number of other emotions too complex for Ed to exactly name. He saw in his double's face satisfaction, triumph, disgust and revulsion; but at the same time shining in the farthest depths of the alchemist's eyes he saw the shadow of something else Ed could only describe as… pity?

The scuffled echo of movement caught Ed's ears and he weakly glanced over his shoulder to see Mustang and his personal staff making their way slowly towards him and his human counterpart. Hawkeye moved near the head of the group beside Mustang, her revolver held out in front of her like a deadly divining rod which remained expertly trained at Ed's head as if she expected him to leap to his feet and attack at any moment. The others hesitantly followed and kept their distance as they fanned out in a wide circle around him and the real Edward Elric to stare. Ed forced himself not to look in Al's direction. He couldn't bare the pain of meeting his little brother's sorrowful gray eyes again.

Mustang slowly came to stand beside the real Edward Elric, and stared down at him. His one eye that wasn't hidden behind a large eye patch was stormy and dark. "Is that all of them?" he asked, motioning with his chin towards the pile of blood-red stones splattered across the ground in front of Ed. His voice was carefully controlled, betraying none of the colonel's inner thoughts.

"Should be," the blond alchemist replied. "With no Red Stones to feed off anymore he should be powerless now. He no longer has an unlimited number of lives or strength. Basically, he's mortal now."

A suffocating silence descended on the group, pregnant with the weight of sudden indecision now that they'd actually succeeded in their plan and stood over their enemy in victory. None of them, it seemed, had planned for what to do once they finally succeeded in their quest.

Ed's human double was the first to put voice to the question weighing on all their minds. "What do we do with him now?" He glanced at Mustang out of the corner of his eye.

The colonel continued to stare at Ed, his expression darkening with inner turmoil. "It should probably be sent to a government research facility," he said. "But I'm not sure how I'd explain its existence if we did. I've already done so much paperwork to cover up Tucker's transmutation it would look suspiciously back on me if I revealed what he created now."

"It's not a suggestion I necessarily want to promote or one I morally agree with," Armstrong rumbled from the rear of the group, "but if Edward's homunculus no longer has any Red Stones to sustain him, wouldn't he be vulnerable to death now just like a normal human being?"

"No!" Al cried out, horrified. "You can't kill him!"

"I can make it quick and painless," Hawkeye said, her gun still expertly aimed between Ed's eyes. "All I need is one clean shot."

"You can't!" the younger Elric shouted. "That's murder!"

"No…" Ed softly rasped from the ground before Al could say anything more in his defense. Everyone looked at him in surprise almost as if they'd forgotten he was even there. Mustering his strength, Ed weakly pushed himself up enough to sit back on his heels and meet the colonel's and his original self's eyes. "No," he repeated in a stronger voice. "The major's right. I should be killed. I don't deserve to live. Not after everything I've done… I'm tired of fighting. I'm tired of being what I am. Just kill me. Put me out of my misery. I was never suppose to exist." He glanced at his little brother, meeting Al's teary gray eyes and holding them steadily with his own. "It's for the best," he emptily murmured. "There's no other way for this to end…"

Another intense silence fell over the group, none of them sure how to react to Ed's surrender. Mustang looked agitated, as if taken aback by Ed's proposal. The eldest Elric shifted anxiously beside the colonel, his facial features scrunched together in an uncertain expression. Alphonse, meanwhile, looked as if he were about to be physically ill. He desperately stared at Ed, as if silently pleading him to take back what he'd said and think of something else. But Ed's resolve didn't waver, even under his little brother's plaintive stare.

This was the way it had to be…

He hoped Al never lost his innocence - that innate ability of his to believe things eventually worked out for the best and that happy endings really were possible. He truly hoped Al never changed. There were far too many people like himself who had seen and experienced too much and lived each day with the knowledge he could never go back to living with rose-colored glasses to blind himself from Life's crueler truths. No matter how much Al wanted him to pretend otherwise, Ed knew this truly was the only way for this to end once and for all…

Glancing at Hawkeye, the homunculus met her conflicted ruby-colored eyes. "Please…" he whispered, the faintest hint of pleading tainting his voice. "Do it quickly."

The lieutenant seemed unsure what to do. The tip of her gun shied from Ed as she shot Mustang a questioning glance, waiting for orders. The colonel continued to stare at Ed for a long moment of silence as if reevaluating some old opinion of him before slowly turning away and meeting Hawkeye's gaze. They stared at each other for several heartbeats of laden silence before Mustang finally gave her a small, solemn nod of assent.

The female sharpshooter looked back at Ed and retook aim. "Thank you," Ed sighed with relief. As the lieutenant steadied her grip, sighting down the length of her weapon, Ed let his eyes slip close, ready to welcome the release her polished service piece was prepared to offer him.

Time seemed to slow as he waited for the sharp report of Hawkeye's gun to sound and usher in a wave of darkness that would swallow him in its inky black embrace and end his suffering.

The muffled click of Hawkeye thumbing back the hammer echoed loudly through the suffocating silence of the surrounding necropolis.

_Yes, _Ed's thoughts echoed in the silence of suspended time. _Let this finally end…_

He imagined he could almost feel the lieutenant's eye on him, marking the exact place on his forehead she intended to sink the deadly bullet. It was strange, Ed mused, that he felt no fear at what was about to happen. His entire existence was about to end. He didn't have the reassurance of religion to give him the hope of going on to whatever waited for humans beyond death. He was a homunculus. A soulless creature born from science. This lonely, empty life he had was all he had to look forward to for as long as he walked the earth. And it was for that reason alone Ed felt nothing but peace at the thought of no longer existing - of simply ceasing to _be_. There was no pain in nothingness, no regret - only release. He was consigned to his fate. He was ready to give up the fight.

But before Hawkeye could squeeze the trigger and deliver the final deadly blow Ed so desperately yearned for, the patter of shifting debris suddenly sounded off to the side from the ruins of the demolished safe house. Ed's eyes flew open and snapped in the sound's direction. In front of him, Hawkeye dropped her aim and turned in surprise as did everybody else.

As they watched, one pile of rubble shifted and out of the rocky debris emerged the battered, dust-covered figure of Envy who's been all but forgotten in the commotion until now.

"You know, this is getting really old…" the shape-shifter growled as he straightened and stepped out of the fire-charred remains of stonework and mortar. There was something dangerous in the way the Sin moved, like an angry viper emerging from its hole. The gleam of madness burned brightly in his purple-black eyes.

"I'm so sick and tired of people constantly trying to screw me over," he snarled. There was a rabid look of insanity about him as he scanned the assembled group of alchemists and soldiers as if his and Ed's interrupted fight had been the final straw in breaking the Sin's already questionable hold on sanity. "I'm not going to take it anymore!" he shouted. Then, with no warning - a wave of shimmering white light transforming his right arm into a deadly spike - he lunged at the nearest person to him.

Roy Mustang barely had time to register the Sin's unexpected appearance before he suddenly found himself in the direct path of the shape-shifter's rage. As if in slow motion he watched Envy rush towards him. The homunculus' transmuted arm was cocked back over his shoulder, ready to skewer the colonel right through the chest. Roy's one hand instinctively shot up, his fingers poised to ignite the flammable material of his gloves that gave him his alchemist-name. But he already knew it was a futile gesture. Envy was coming at him too fast and there was no way for him to concentrate a fire attack accurately enough on a superhumanly agile homunculus without putting himself and everyone else in danger of accidentally being caught in the explosion's back draft.

Envy was now almost right on top of him. For a brief moment Roy saw in a hyper-sped collage of images in his mind's eye everything he'd left undone and regretted. Hugh's murder. The Ishbalan war. His confrontation with the homunculus fuhrer. Havoc laying near dead in a sterile hospital bed. The monstrous parody of Fullmetal's clone clawing at the floor in a pool of bloody filth. The same creature - human now in appearance - kneeling before him in a hastily chalked transmutation circle begging Roy to end his suffering. These and so many other images flooded the colonel's mind as Envy bore down on him like some kind of black carrion bird of death.

But before Envy's spiked arm could find its mark in the Flame Alchemist's chest, another figure suddenly appeared in front of Mustang. There was a slurpy crunch and then a misty spray of liquid that splattered the front of the colonel's jacket in tiny dots of purplish-red. It took a moment for Roy's surprise-frozen mind to realize that the liquid was blood, and then another moment to realize that that blood was not his own.

Rattling himself out of his shock Mustang looked up from his blood-splattered jacket to his savior and felt his stomach lurch at the sight he beheld.

Edward Elric - or rather the soulless incarnation of the Fullmetal Alchemist - stood directly in front of him barely even a stride's width away between him and Envy. The boy's back was to Roy, his golden-blond plait hanging between two ridged shoulder blades. And there, just to the left of the homunculus' braid, protruded the tip of an eight-inch long bloody spike of flesh.

Gore and bits of stringy sinew hung from the end of Envy's transformed arm. Blood seeped from around the edges of where the shape-shifter's arm had punched its way though the upper-left corner of the younger homunculus' ribcage, and stained the boy's tank top a shiny even darker shade of black.

Edward's clone stood partially slumped forward, his knees visibly shaking underneath him with the effort not to sag to the ground in a boneless heap at Envy's feet - although Mustang wondered fleetingly if the only reason the soulless boy remained standing wasn't really because of the other homunculus's arm holding him in place. Long blond bangs hid most of the clone's face from view, but that did nothing to prevent Mustang from seeing the disturbingly red gush of blood that erupted from the homunculus' mouth as he lurched forward against the transformed limb and gave a single violent cough.

"You brat…" Envy hissed, staring at the blond Sin in equally shocked amazement as the colonel. "Why the hell did you do that? Why'd you go out of your way to save this human?"

"Because…" Ed's clone rasped, his voice watery and choked as he slowly lifted his head to look Envy in the eyes, "it's not right… There's been enough suffering and death because of us. I'm not going to let you hurt him or anyone else anymore… It's time for this to end once and for all…"

The air around the soulless boy suddenly began to churn, steadily gaining speed and power as his homunculus power manifested itself. A startled look flew across Envy's face as the unnatural cyclone of wind and crackling energy surrounded him and his fellow Sin, and tried to wrench his arm free of Ed's chest. But before he could, the younger Sin's hands shot up and wrapped around where Envy's wrist would have been, trapping him there in place.

"Let go of me, you little bastard!" Envy screamed over the howl of wind as he continued to frantically struggle against the other's steel-like grasp.

"No…" the boy rasped, his blood-smeared lips twisted in a gruesome sneer of triumph. "This ends for good here and now…"

True fear flooded Envy's eyes as Ed's grip on his wrist tightened. With one hand keeping Envy's transformed arm firmly in place, Ed slowly reached his other hand out and pressed it to the shape-shifter's forehead, his fingers curling around the top and sides of the Sin's head. The wind surrounding them increased in ferocity, savagely pulling at their hair and clothes as if they'd become the center of some mini tornado. Envy's eyes went wild with panic. He opened his mouth as if to speak, to beg for respite or perhaps even last minute forgiveness. But anything the shape-shifter might have said was lost in the deafening roar of wind.

Ed felt no pity inside him as the other's face contorted with pain and Envy's eyes went impossibly wide - as if finally realizing there was no escaping this unforeseen end - before they slowly drained of life, like water slipping away through a sieve. As Ed continued to dispassionately watch, Envy's head lifelessly tipped backwards like that of a broken doll, his unbound hair flying freely in the wind. The wind continued to angrily howl and swirl, sealing the two in a place separate from the world that refused to accept them as its own. And as the wind continued to tug and bite at Ed and his captive, Envy's body began to disintegrate.

Like sun-baked sand, Envy's skin started to crack and chip, flaking away from his body like layer after layer of old paint. Bones, teeth, and then a jeering skull gradually emerged before they too were vaporized into a fine power and caught up and carried away by the swirling cyclone of power. Envy's desiccated body crumbled in on itself under Ed's touch, before finally disappearing in a billowy cloud of dust as half a dozen Red Stones dropped heavily to the ground at Ed's feet in a series of dull thuds.

The wind surrounding Ed gradually faded away, leaving him standing alone in a wide circle of powdery gray dust and scattered stones. Silence stung the ears of everyone there as they stared at the blond homunculus, the labored pants of his breathing the only thing to echo through the otherwise empty vacuum of sound that'd followed in the wake of what they'd just witnessed.

Purple-red blood poured freely from the gaping hole in Ed's chest where Envy's arm had once occupied. The sticky warmth had by now spread all the way down his side almost to his hip. Pain radiated across his entire chest like a burning trail of fire. Ed swayed dangerously on his feet. His vision was blurring black around the edges, his head frighteningly light and disconnected from the rest of his body. It was getting difficult to breathe, and Ed had a sinking suspicion he'd reached the end of his physical limits.

_So this is how it finally ends…_ he dully mused as he tipped his head back to look at the dark stone ceiling high above. _I just wish I could have seen the Sun one last time…_

Ed's world suddenly seemed to tip on end, his knees giving out from under him. Like a marionette with its strings cut, the soulless boy crumbled backwards, weightless and limp.

But before he could connect with the unforgiving ground, Ed felt himself caught by a strong pair of arms and gently lowered to ground. Confused and disoriented by the rapid loss of blood, Ed weakly blinked his eyes up at the one supporting the upper half of his body off the ground against a solid chest, and momentarily wondered if what he saw wasn't really a hallucination. For there, as tangible and real as the rocky ground he lay against was none other than the revered Flame Alchemist himself, Roy Mustang.

The colonel's face was an unreadable confusion of emotions as he stared down at Ed, his one eye filled with a look too foreign and poignant to fully make out or name. Cradling Ed's bloody body to him, Mustang pressed one hand to Ed's mutilated chest as if that was somehow enough to patch the massive hole steadily draining the young homunculus of life. The colonel's once white glove was almost instantly stained a dark, sticky crimson.

"Someone find a medic!" he looked up and yelled. Panicked urgency tainted the colonel's command.

Before Ed could understand what was happening, there was suddenly a small group of people huddled around him and the colonel. Through a groggy dint of blinks Ed was able to push back the encroaching tunnel of darkness from his vision enough to make out the blurry image of his human self leaning over the colonel's shoulder, and there kneeling beside the real Edward Elric (Ed's heart clenched painfully at the sight) his little brother Al, his soft gray eyes brimming with tears as he sorrowfully stared down at him. Others in the colonel's personal entourage pressed in behind the two brothers, but Ed could only bring himself to really focus on the youngest Elric brother's heartbroken face.

"Al…" he whispered, his voice frighteningly weak even to his own ears. His body gave a violent shudder at his pitiful attempt at speech and he coughed. Ed felt a trickle of blood escape the side of his mouth and slowly trail down the length of his jaw.

"No, don't speak," Al shushed, frantically staring into Ed's drooping eyes. "It's going to be okay. Don't worry. We're going to find you a medic and get you better. Just hold on. Everything's going to be okay. Please, just hold on."

Despite the boy's panicked rambling, Ed already knew Al was really only trying to fool himself into believing what he said was true. He could tell by the painful shine of understanding in his brother's eyes that Al already knew how this was ultimately going to end. With none of Izumi's Red Stones left to sustain him, he no longer had the ability to heal or be revived.

He was now as vulnerable as any normal human being…

"What did you do just now to Envy?" his human self spoke up beside Al.

Ed had to fight to bring the real Edward Elric's face into focus. Swallowing thickly against the coppery rise of liquid in the back of his throat, Ed weakly explained in between increasingly shallow pants of air, "I de-transmuted him… Besides copying alchemy attacks, that's my homunculus power… I can reverse completed transmutations; like what I did to your automail arm when we were fighting… I couldn't let him hurt any more people… I had to stop him once and for all…" Ed let a mirthless smirk twist the one corner of his mouth. "At least…" he wheezed with increasing difficulty, "I was finally able to do… something good in my life… even if it was only at the very end…"

Beside him, Al choked back a quiet sob of despair. Turning bleary eyes towards the younger Elric he wished he could call his own blood, Ed felt tears burn the corners of his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Al… I never meant to hurt you. It was an accident, I swear… I know you must think I'm a monster… and hate me because of what I am, but please-"

"I don't think you're a monster," Al sharply cut him off. He leaned closer to Ed, as if to convey the sincerity of his words. His eyes shined impossibly bright with unshed tears in the gloomy light. "You're my brother. How could I ever hate my own brother?"

Ed's breath hitched, his heart constricting painfully tight in the center of his chest. Tears sprang up to burn the corners of his eyes. _Brother…_ For so long he'd hopelessly yearned to hear that single word come from Al, directed towards him in acknowledgement. And to hear it now after all the pain and suffering he'd both caused and received was almost too surreal for the young homunculus to believe was really real.

"I should have seen it earlier," Al continued in a strained voice that sounded dangerously close to breaking. "I should have listened to my heart and not what everyone else kept saying. I'm sorry I didn't realize the truth sooner…"

For a moment Ed could only dumbly stare at Al, his heart shattering at the guilt and remorse in his brother's voice. There was no way such emotions could be faked. The pain he heard was too powerful, too tangible, too _real_ for the younger Elric to simply be giving him some last minute farewell born out of pity or some overzealous sense of compassion. What he was hearing was real and somehow infinitely more painful to bear than if Al had just turned his back on him and left him there to bleed to death alone and hated. Because now Ed knew that despite everything else that'd happened - the fighting, the hatred and bloodshed - that there'd always existed this tiny kernel of redemption waiting for him in the form of his human younger brother. Even if there'd been no reason before now for him to believe it might somewhere, somehow exist…

"Al…" Ed rasped. His voice was barely louder than a whisper now. It was getting so hard to breath or focus his dimming thoughts. Al had to lean down closer to hear him. Not trusting himself to try and put into words anything else he might have wanted to say, Ed tentatively reached his hand out to Al, hoping beyond all hope that this time he would not be rejected.

Without hesitation, Al grabbed hold of Ed, clutching his hand tightly in between both his own as if that might somehow keep Ed from slipping away into the dark void of nothingness that awaited him beyond.

Al's grip was like a solid anchor, grounding Ed there in the here-and-now so that he might savor every last second Fate deemed him worthy enough to be spared.

"Thank you…" Ed whispered, his voice slurred and weak as his eyes sluggishly swiveled around to take in the surrounding crowd of blurry faces. "Please tell Havoc I'm sorry… I never really wanted to hurt him… If I could go back in time… If I could take it all back, I would… Please… tell him-"

"We will," Mustang gently cut him off. The colonel was staring down at Ed, his face a carefully controlled mask of emotions. His one hand maintained a constant pressure on Ed's seeping chest wound. But beneath Mustang's blood-soaked glove Ed would have sworn he felt the Flame Alchemist's hand shaking, as if struggling to maintain his outward aura of calm. And though he couldn't be a hundred percent sure, he thought for the briefest moment of time, in the dim light of the necropolis, he caught a faint glimmer of wetness shining in the corner of the colonel's one eye. "We'll tell him, I promise…"

"Thank you…" Ed whispered. His eyes were beginning to grow heavy, as if they each weighed a thousand pounds. The pain in his chest was no longer as sharp as it'd been before, as if someone had just shot him full of anesthetic. His body felt heavier now, sluggish. His lungs still struggled to draw in air, but for some reason breathing no longer seemed as important as it once did. The tunnel of darkness ringing his vision was growing larger, as if moving closer to swallow Ed in its inky black embrace. But Ed no longer feared its approach.

The colonel was a strong, solid presence beside him. Al's hands were warm and comforting around his own, reassuring him he was still there despite the encroaching darkness. And although he hadn't really said anything since Ed had stepped in between Envy and the colonel and collapsed to the ground, the fact that the real Edward Elric had chosen to stay there by his homunculus's side and not abandon him to a lonesome, painful end was an unforeseen comfort to the dying Sin.

His lips twitching into a tentative smile, Ed weakly squeezed Al's hand a little tighter as the darkness began to sweep over him. "This…" he murmured, his eyelids growing impossibly heavy, "was all I ever really wanted in the first place…"

Weightless darkness rose up to surround him. Surrendering himself to it, Ed let himself drift away, Al's hand still tightly gripping his own. There was a last half second in which Ed felt as if he were fading, falling away from himself into the very fabric of time and space.

And then, there was nothing…

Al felt the muscles in his homunculus brother's hand go limp and watched as his sorrow-haunted gold eyes went dim, then blank. And before the Fullmetal Alchemist's clone's eyelids slid fully shut for the last time, Alphonse Elric let the ragged sobs of despair he'd been holding in until now finally overtake him.

And although the younger Elric brother's tears fell in continuous waves on his placid features like the cold spring rain pounding the earth high above their heads, a small peaceful smile still pulled at the corners of Ed's lips…

* * *

An epilogue is all that still remains of this story. I'm so sorry to disappoint people if they were hoping Homunculus!Ed was going to make it out of all this alive, but he had to die. He was one of those tragic heroes that redeemed himself just before the very end but would have never been able to actually live past it. Despite redemption, Homunculus!Ed was still guilty of numerous crimes and would have never truly fit in with everyone else - no matter how much they might have tried to overlook the fact that he was, indeed, a homunculus.

Thoughts? Feelings? Comments? Threats?

Reviews? Please..?


End file.
